


Big Girls Don't Die

by LovelyLuupine



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Comics), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Canonical Child Abuse, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Pre-Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-08-27 00:13:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16691647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyLuupine/pseuds/LovelyLuupine
Summary: Origin story/kidnappers swap AU Gamora is raised by Yondu and becomes a ravager. While Thanos destroys half of the Earths population and turns Peter into the Most Dangerous Man in the Galaxy.™I just wanted to give Gamora a happier childhood ig She Deserves Better! Yondu learns to be a better person speed run. I will update tags as characters are introduced.





	1. Long, Long Way From Home

Gamora was glaring at Yondu like she was trying to set him on fire with her mind. If she needed to make him the villain, that was fine. He could be the scary pirate who ripped her away from her home. That role suited him better anyway. It didn’t matter what the brat thought of him. Yondu could protect Gamora while she was on his ship. All the other kids would go to Ego like lambs to the slaughter, but this one, this one Ego couldn't have. Yondu knew it wouldn't make Stakar forgive him. He would be lucky if Stakar ever talked to him again. But if Stakar could just see that this wasn't Yondus fault... Ego never said what he was doing to the kids, all the information Yondu got was a name and coordinates. It wasn't his fault.

“You speak standard, girly?” Kraglin interrupted Yondu's train of thought, bringing him back to the present. The little girl shifted her gaze to Kraglin. They had to handcuff Gamora to the bed, to keep her from trying to escape. The kid was a scrawny little thing, couldn't have been more than seven, or eight standard years. Her maroon hair was pulled into twin buns and loosely braided. Her matching red outfit had been patched up by skilled hands, several times. “What about Xandarian?” Kraglin switched between languages with ease. She didn’t give him a response. “That's all I got. I could hold her down and stick the translator chip in, sir.” 

“Nah” Yondu pulls up a chair and sits down across from her. “She understands Standard fine, don't’cha girly?” 

The kid looks back at Yondu. “Are you in charge?”

“I am.” Yondu continued in a mocking, whining tone, “Let me guess, you wanna go home.”

“My mama can't pay ransom,” Gamora stated trying to keep her voice steady. “And I can read and write.”

“What?” Kraglin muttered.

“Nobody wants an educated slave.” Gamora clarified a look of horror flashed across over Kraglins face.

Yondu had been through this song and dance a few times now. He was better at concealing his emotions. “I ain't negotiating with a useless, brat.” Gamora hand slipped out of the handcuffs, in the same instant Yondu whistled. Her hand reached out for where a blaster would have been holstered, instead, the arrow was hovering dangerously close to her eyes. Gamora tried to move back and Yondu grabbed her wrist. “Damn kid!” The arrow returned to the holster.

She struggled in his grasp, hitting him with her free hand. “Let me go!”

Yondu snarled, “Anybody else would’ve spaced your ass, for being this much trouble!”

Gamora slowly stopped struggling, “Spaced?”

“It's when they like, throw you out an airlock and you die.” Kraglins casual tone made Yondu relax. “It's station rat slang.”

The kid looked back at Yondu, “You're a rat man?”

“No! A station rat is someone who was born on a space station. But that ain't the point! The point is I should’ve killed you!” Yondu said clearly exasperated.

“Why didn't you just say that?” Gamora frowned, “Standard is my second language.”

Kraglin picked up the cuffs, “How’d you get out of these?”

Gamora glanced down at her hands, Yondu forced her fist open, he chuckled, “You missing some keys Krags?”

Kraglins eyes widened, he tapped his pockets, “Aw shit,” Yondu tossed the keys to Kraglin. 

“Maybe you ain't completely useless after all.” Yondu mused, she must have learned how to pickpockets on the street. “Yeah, you've got potential, girly.” She could be a decent ravager someday, with the right mentor.

“No.” Gamora shook her head. “No, I want to go home.”

“Of course you do.” Yondu rolled his eyes and stood up. They all said the same thing. “Throw her in the box, if she gives ya crap. Assign her a bed and get’er chipped. I'll get Hazira to make her some clothes.”

“Aye, Cap’n” Kraglin nodded.

Yondu shoved Gamora back onto the bed. “I’m doing you a favor here girly. Consider yourself lucky, ” and with that Yondu left. Gamora rubbed her sore wrist and stuck her tongue out at him.

With his back to Gamora, Kraglin shoved the cuffs haphazardly into a drawer. He loaded the translator chip into the injector and prepared the morphine. He wasn't sure how someone of her species would react to morphine, but injecting a translator chip was too painful to do without some kind of painkiller. He'd hoped it wouldn't kill her. Kraglin saw movement in his peripheral vision and locked the door to the med bay. Gamora slammed her fist against the door, making dents in the metal. Kraglin sighed, “Give this up, already. We're thousands of light years from your home planet.”

“That doesn't matter, I'll steal a ship,” She didn't turn to look at him.

Kraglin snorted, that idea was laughable, a pipe dream. “Even if you could, you're not a pilot.”

“I'll find someone who is!” The kid picked up a chair with surprising ease and lifted it over her head. Kraglin activated the contamination procedure from his tablet. The doors were reinforced with steel. The chair came down with a crack, breaking into pieces against the door. “Let me out!” She screamed. 

“Not gonna happen,” The kid was starting to get on his nerves. “Even if you did grab a hostage, steal a ship, where could you go that we won't find you?” 

Gamora's lower lip trembled. The kid pounded on the door again. Her fist left a dark blood stain. “Shut up!”

He stepped between her and the door, trying to keep her from injuring herself further. “Do you really think you can outrun us? That your mom can protect you?”

“Just shut up!” Gamora's fist slammed into Kraglin’s stomach. He took a step back, that was going to leave a mark. She kept hitting him, again and again. Until she wore herself out. One hand clinging to Kraglin’s shirt, she leaned against his chest. She was getting blood and snot all over his shirt, and the crying was giving him a headache. Kraglin didn't know how to deal with a crying child! He wanted to hit her so she'd shut up, but then the girl would cry more. He didn't know what else to do, he gently pried her hands off him. Her knuckles were cut open and bruises formed where Yondu had grabbed her. Kraglin’s confronted by how vulnerable she was. Even with all that strength, she was still terribly fragile.

Gef laughed, “Ain't that precious?” he pulled back the curtains that gave the beds the illusion of privacy. The commotion must have woken him from his medically induced coma. 

Kraglin resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “Shut up Gef.” She was a baby, she was allowed to be sad. Kraglin let go Gamoras wrists, she took a few shaking breaths. She rubbed at her eyes, desperately trying to pull herself together. She smeared blood on her face.

“You got stuck babysitting again?” Gef gestured towards the kid, it wasn't really a question.

“My whole job is babysitting you a-holes,” Kraglin muttered steering Gamora back towards the bed.

Gef took it lightly, maybe it was all the painkillers putting him in a good mood. “We ain't children.”

“I know that she actually listens to me.” Gef looked confused but Kraglin didn't feel like explaining it to him. “Feel better, kid?” The statement sounded more sarcastic than Kraglin had intended, he was genuinely concerned. 

“No. I need to go,” Gamora exhaled sharply, and blinked back tears. She couldn't bring herself to say the next word. “I don't belong here.”

“Nobody belongs anywhere.” Kraglin shrugged, “stop crying, your fine.”

“I’m not crying!” Gamora whined, hugging her knees to her chest.

“Oh, that's convincing,” Gef muttered.

“Remind me to teach you how to lie sometime, donut head.” Kraglin chuckled.

Gamora tugged at her twin buns, self consciously. “They're not donuts.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” She narrowed her eyes at him, “Are you teasing me?” 

“I would never do that.” Kraglin cleaned the blood off the best he could and then bandaged up Gamora's hands. 

“Who's that?” She looked over her shoulder at Gef.

“That's Gef he's an engineer,” and village idiot, Kraglin didn't say. “Gef this is Gamora. She's our new cabin girl.”

“Can you fly a ship?” Gamora put up an innocent front.

“Don't answer that,” Kraglin said dryly. He emphasized the statement, with a smack to the back of Gamoras head. 

The kid yelped more out of surprise than pain, “don’t hit me!” She squeaked blinking back fresh tears. Kraglin moved to inject the chip, but Gamora panicked. She scrambled out of his arms reach, watching the injector with suspicion.

“Come on, if I was going to hurt you I would have done it already.” Kraglin took a deep breath. This was getting irritating. Gamora stayed where she was. “You know what this is?” He tossed her the injector.

“Translator chip, a fancy one.” She turns it slowly in her hand, “How much did this cost?”

Kraglin shrugged, “Eh, two maybe, three hundred units.”

“Two, two hundred units?!” Gamoras eyes went wide, she dropped the injector onto the bed. She started counting on her fingers, “I could buy eighty cakes with that, no, no wait, eighty-five cakes. That's food for two months, maybe three if we rationed,” She muttered to herself. Kraglin didn't have the heart to tell her that wasn't a lot of units.

“It needs to go in your neck,” Kraglin explained. “Wasn't doin’ nothin’ bad.” 

“Hurts like a motherfucker, though,” Gef grunted.

“Not helping,” Kraglin snapped at him. “I’ll do it fast. You ain't leavin’ this room until you're chipped.” Gamora looked at the door, but her mind was elsewhere. She sighed and moved closer to Kraglin. True to his word, Kraglin injected the chip quickly.

To say that lodging a piece of metal into your spinal cord was an unpleasant experience would be a dramatic understatement. Gamora clapped a hand over the back of her neck. There was a screaming pain in the base of her skull, that burned down her spine. It felt like she had been shot. Her nails dug into the palm of hands until they drew blood. She felt a pinch as Kraglin injected something into her neck. A moment later, the pain started to fade. Her muscles relaxed, she felt numb. Gamora focused on her breathing, she blinked her eyes back into focus. Gef laughed as Gamora lashed out at Kraglin. “Gimme some warning first!” She glared at him, but her tears and young face ruined the gesture.

“You're fine,” Kraglin almost called her a baby, before he remembered she was one. He let the kid rest while he cleaned up a bit. Kraglin had considered leaving the mess but decided the earful he’d get from Bruhl wasn't worth it. Kraglin wanted to stay on Bruhl's good side if he could help it. He was the only one on the ship with any real medical training. Kraglin deactivated the contamination procedures and unlocked the door. He touched Gamora's shoulder to get her attention. “Kid lets go.”

She slid off the bed, “Where are we going?”

Kraglin opened a map of the ship on his tablet and handed it to her, “Here.” He pointed towards the mess deck, “And all the way,” he started to move the hologram quickly, “over here,” He stopped over the living quadrant and zoomed in. “Is where you're sleeping. Remember the number, all them cabins look the same.” Kraglin was using the term cabin, loosely. It was more like a closet with two bunks and a storage unit. There was barely enough room for two people to stand.

“I have my own room!?” Gamora nearly gasped.

Kraglin bit back a smile, “You're sharing it. Living space is tight, this used to be a transport ship.”

“Do I get my own bed?” Her excitement was written all over her face. 

“Yeah, kid.” Kraglin nodded leading them out of the med bay and down the hall. “Memorize the map the best ya can. You're on your own tomorrow.” He made Gamora walk in front of him so she couldn't try to escape. Gamora looked over the map, occasionally asking questions. She hadn't realized how massive the ship was, it could house a small town. The ship was broken into several different quadrants, the living quadrant was the smallest and the docking bay (Kraglin called it the garage) was the largest. The catwalk wasn't technically a quadrant but it was bigger than all of them. It was a maze that stretched through the center of the ship. If Gamora leaned over the railing she could see all the way down to the bottom of the ship, pipes and machinery stretched as far as she could see. The armory was relatively close to her cabin, but it would be a bit of a walk to the docking bay. Kraglin watched Gamora trace the route with her finger, she was plotting her next escape attempt. “You think I'm stupid or something?” 

Gamora couldn't be bothered to look up at him, “If I'm never going to escape, what does it matter?”

Kraglin snatched the tablet from her hands and hit her over the head with it. “I can’t ignore it when you make plans right in front of me! At least be subtle ‘bout it.”

“Fine!” Gamora jumped up to take the tablet back.

When they reached the mess deck, Gamora sat down at the table closest to the door. They were early for dinner so the mess was mostly empty. The crew working the graveyard shift lingered around the coffee machine. He spotted Brahl in the group and waved him down. “Hey doc, you know what a Zen-Whoberisian can eat?”

“I can make an educated guess based on their biology,” Brahl stated.

“So, yes?” Kraglin clarified, and Brahl shrugged.

He glanced over at Gamora, “That the new cargo?”

“She ain't cargo. Captain had me design her a jacket.” Haziras laughter was melodic. Kraglin reached for the bag of clothes but the tailor held it out of his reach. “What does our dear Captain want with a sweet lil’ thing like that?”

“That's need-to-know information, Zira,” Kraglin said flatly.

“So you don't know either.” Brahl chuckled.

“Awe, and I thought you two were besties.” Hazira mocked him. 

Brahl was right, but Kraglin didn't like his tone. “If I tell Zira the whole ship would know by morning.” 

“Hey!” Hazira put two hands on her hip, then pursed her lips and dropped her hands to her side. “ Yeah nevermind, that's fair.” 

Kraglin nearly dragged Brahl into the galley. They served food from too many different planets for Kraglin to keep track of what was safe to eat and what was mildly poisonous. Usually, he stuck to the freeze-dried imitation of real Xandarian food. Brahl wandered down one of the buffets pointing out what was safe for Gamora to eat. Kraglin found a yellow heavily processed sweet bread. He guessed they were those cakes the kid was babbling about and put a few on the plate. Artificial food was easy to make and transport, which made it dirt cheap. Kraglin couldn't remember the last time he had a real, honest to stars, steak. Most people claimed that you can't tell the difference between artificial meat and the real stuff. Most people are wrong. When Kraglin walked towards the table, Gamora held up the bag of clothes. “Hazira made these for me! I got a dress and sweaters, and pajamas, and, and!”

“I know, that's her job.” Kraglin tried not to smile, it was adorable the way she got worked up over the little things. He wasn't made of stone, damn it.

“And they're brand new!” She pulled out a soft gray sweater. Hazira had hand stitched fluffy cartoon creatures into it. “They’re so pretty! She made these for me.” The kid hugged the bag to her chest.

Kraglin set the tray down in front of her. “Here, eat." He rehydrated juice with a splash of vodka, for Gamora. He had vodka with fruit juice. 

Gamora slowly set the bag down on the seat next to her. She stared at the stack of cakes on her plate. Three days worth of food, for one meal. Gamoras hands were trembling as she picked up a fork. She thought about every meal she'd eaten alone. Every time her family had to ration food, or when her mother didn't eat so Gamora could. This was the first time someone sat at a table with her to eat, and it was them. It looked so good. She took a small bite. “This isn't fair.” Her vision blurred and she pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes. She wouldn't cry.

Kraglin looked confused, “the food can't taste that bad.” 

Gamora sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. Kraglin handed her some napkins. “No, it's good. It's really good.” She took another bite. She's not going to cry.

The mess deck was getting crowded as everyone arrived for dinner. Yondu was making his rounds to check on the crew when he stopped at their table. “Aw hell, Krags wha’d’ya do ta her?”

“I didn't do nothing.” Kraglin poked at his own meal. “Says she's crying cause the foods good.”

“That's not it.” Something inside her snapped. All the tears, anger and guilt came out at once. Her meltdown felt all too familiar to Yondu. “Mama tells me you have to work to eat, and I--I haven't done anything. The people I care about will go cold and hungry while I have this feast and sleep in my own bed. It's too much! And you kidnapped me! I'm never going to see mama again because of you! I should hate you but you're being so nice to me. Why are you being so nice to me? I don't understand, I just don't understand.” Gamora slumped in her chair suddenly feeling exhausted. She didn't have the energy to care if her captors saw her upset. 

The chair scraped against the floor as Yondu sat down next to her. He seemed to stare at nothing for a while, trying to decide what to say. What he could he say? “This ain't being nice. This is the bare minimum. Even prisoners get food, shelter an’ clothes.”

“Is that what I am? A prisoner.” Gamora muttered, her eyes were empty and distant.

“You can choose to be more.” Yondu pulled the jacket out of the bag Hazira had left. “You want to pay me back? You put on the damn jacket and stop brooding.” Gamora touched the soft faux leather, it was heavier than she thought it would be. Prisoner or criminal? Wasn't much of a choice. Gamora unfolded the jacket, red always was her color. “Atta girl.”

Gamora thought of her mother and felt a pang of guilt. “I'm only going to work until I find a way out of here. This doesnt mean I like you or that I forgive you.” 

Yondu chuckled, the girl was stubborn as hell. “I should've spaced your ass, girly! I take you in, give you a job, and you're still a brat. You owe me your life!”

“That's not how that works!” Gamora yelled back, “You don't save somebody's life by not killing them!” She sank back into her seat as Yondu walked away. A full minute later she whispered to Kraglin, “Wait, was he serious, or was he teasing me?”

Kraglin laughed into his drink, “Oh no, he's fully serious.” Gamora didn't look convinced. She turned back to her plate. This wouldn't be forever. She was going to go home to her mother. No matter what it took.


	2. The Danger Zone

Gamora's expression soured and she deleted the message to her mother, she couldn't find the right words to say. She laid back against the cold metal, her feet are dangling off the edge of the platform. She was looking up at the stars through the large glass hatch in the docking bay. "How could mama not worry about me?" She asks the stars, as they blink in and out of existence. Lightyears away in a swirling multicolored cloud of stardust, there's an explosion of light. The stardust shifts colors as a star is born, joining her sisters in their dance. Gamora has never seen anything like that, it was the best nightlight she's ever had.

She doesn't realize Yondu is in the room until he turns on the lights. Gamora rolled onto her side, trying to shield her eyes. "This is where you've been hidin'."

Gamora didn't know she was going to whine until she opened her mouth, "I wasn't hiding. What do you want?"

"Ya wanna try that again, girly?" Yondu kicked her side, it wasn't hard enough to cause any damage.

Gamora cried out as she recoiled away from him. The unspoken threat of being kicked again made her consider her words carefully. "Did you want something from me, Captain?" She spits his title like an insult, her words dripping with malice.

"Now, that wasn't so hard." Yondu shook his head, he let the attitude slide because they were alone. He can't tell Gamora that he was worried about her, so instead, he says, "I want you to answer your transmitter when Kraglin calls. I thought ya got lost, you're missing breakfast." Gamora muttered a soft apology, but Yondu had a feeling she wasn't listening. She was staring intensely at a blank message on her transmitter. "Did you sleep here?"

Gamora pushed her messy hair out of her eyes. "I um, I did, yes. I was really happy to have my own bed, but it was, it was too soft."

Yondu sighed, "Don't make it a habit. Breakfast ends in twenty." Gamora closed the message and stood up. She tucked her pillow under her arm and walked around the large ships. She paused outside the door. "Go left."

"I know!" She didn't know.

There were no empty tables left by the time she arrived. Gamora would rather eat alone than share a meal with her kidnappers, but Yondu intercepted her at the exit. He turned her back toward the tables while yelling something about bugs. Most of the crew ignored her or openly disliked her, the feelings are mutual. She reluctantly set her tray down next to Kraglin. Out of everyone she hated him the least. "Nothing's going to go wrong." Kraglin didn't believe what he was saying.

"Something always goes wrong." Oblo insisted, "This junker is held together by duct tape and chewing gum."

Halfnut chimed in, "The port-side sensors are shot ta shit, and our water heaters trashed."

"Navigations on the fritz again," Tullk added through a mouth full of food.

Kraglin clapped Oblo on the shoulder, "That's why we got the best mechanic this side of the galaxy to fix it."

Oblo laughs, "why does it feel like he's making fun of me?"

Kraglin sipped at his lukewarm coffee and glances down at Gamora. "Food not good enough to bring you to tears, donut head?"

"They're not donuts!" She kicked him under the table. Kraglin kicked her back, so Gamora retaliated. "Stop!"

"You stop!"

Gamora slammed her palms on the table and stood up. "You're supposed to be the adult!" The other Xandarians at the table muffled their laughter as Kraglin glared them down.

Before Kraglin could say something sarcastic and insulting, the power went out. It would have been pitch black if it weren't for the blue glow from the emergency lights. The air recyclers choked and then fell silent, as the hull creaked as its spin slowed to a stop. For a moment, Gamora felt like she was at the bottom of an ocean as everything floated upward, then it all came crashing down. The lights and the air recycler sputter back to life, in the same instance Kraglin and Oblo transmitters clicked on. "Not to alarm anyone," Huhtar was trying to sound calm, "but I think the reactor core just died."

Oblo grinned and arched his eyebrows at Kraglin, "Yeah, you're so smart. Shut up."

"I didn't say nothing, sir." Oblo stood up from the table.

"Oblo!" Yondu yelled his name from the hallway.

"I heard, I'm coming!" He slammed what was left of his coffee.

Gamora wrapped up her leftovers in a napkin, and carefully put it in her jacket pocket. "What are-That's-no!" Kraglin exhaled slowly. He looked caught between being disgusted and exasperated. "Why? Just, just why?"

"I'm saving them for later," Gamora stated this as if it were common sense.

Kraglin decided to be disgusted. "You don't need to, now you're all sticky."

Gamora frowned, "but when we run out of food,"

"We're not gonna run outta food." Kraglin cut her off, "I don't have time for your nonsense."

She followed Kraglin as he pushed his way through the crowd to Yondu and Oblo, "It's not nonsense," Gamora mumbled, if Kraglin heard her, he didn't react.

"How much time do we got Oblo?" Yondu asked.

"Life support has enough emergency battery power for a day, more if we cut down on unnecessary functions," Oblo stated.

"Kraglin drop us to half a g, and turn off anything not keeping us alive," Yondu ordered.

"Aye, sir," Kraglin focused on his tablet. Gamora felt the gravity loosen its grip on her. She underestimated how far one step would take her and crashed into Yondu. He stumbled forward grabbing onto the railing of the catwalk.

He turned to look at her, "What is she doing here?" Kraglin offered a half shrug in response, Oblo didn't stop walking. "What are you doing here? And why are you sticky?"

"I want to help us not die." Gamora took a cautious step away from him. "Are you going to hit me again?"

Yondus tone softened slightly, he looked away from her. "No, stay outta my way, girly."

Kraglin looked sympathetic, "You're not used to low g yet, move slow." Gamora lingered in the hallway uncertain about what to do. She heard Kraglin say in person and over her transmitter, "We're going dark." The lights shut off, and the emergency lights flickered on. She had a hard time finding her way around the ship with the lights on, she'd never find her way back in the dark. Keeping one hand on the railing she hurried to catch up with them.

"Can you divert some of the power from life support into the turbines?" Yondu asked.

Oblo bobbed his head, going down the stairs four at a time, "We can try, might not get us far."

Gamora tried to hop down the stairs the way Oblo had and nearly fell. Kraglin caught her by the collar, he slowly set her down. Yondu sighed heavily, "Can ya walk without falling, or do I need to hold your hand like you're a toddler?"

Gamora's face flushed, when Oblo snickered, "I'm fine, I can walk." Yondu raised an eyebrow at her.

She felt relieved when Kraglin changed the subject. "What about the other ships in the garage?" Oblo looked confused, so Kraglin clarified, "can we use them to power the Eclector?"

"That's," Oblo slowed down, thinking, "Not a bad idea. Horuz knows more about fighter ships than I do, but I think that can work."

Yondu opened a private channel on his transmitter, "Horuz you think we can divert power from the ships in the garage to the thrusters?"

"That's not a problem. We're gonna need a lot of cables." Horuz chuckled nervously.

Oblo breathed a sigh of relief. "Report to the garage, and get the others to help." Yondu said.

"Oh I'd love to Cap, but uhm," Horuz muttered, Oblo stopped at the door that leads to engineering. When the door didn't automatically open Kraglin punched in the code to unlock it. It still didn't open. "The doors won't open without power."

"Whoops." Kraglin ran a hand through his hair. "Captain I can,"

"Don't bother, we need to save power." Yondu shook his head and grabbed half the door. Kraglin and Oblo caught on and grabbed the other half. "One, two... three!" They yanked on the door. The metal screeched as it scraped against the floor. The sound was like fingernails on a chalkboard. The door slid open, but not far enough for anyone to squeeze through. Oblo gave up first, he let go, the door slammed shut.

"This is pointless, we can't open them on our own." Oblo huffed between labored breaths.

"Can I try?" Gamora asked, drifting towards the door.

Oblo snorted, "The hell is a lil' girl gonna do?"

Yondu shrugged, "knock yourself out, kid." Gamora steadied herself against the door, planting her feet in the ground. Kraglin remembered what she did to the med bays door and took a step back. When her fist slammed into the door it rang like a gong, a massive dent forming in the center.

Oblo shook his head, "They don't open like-" She punched it again, and the cuts on her hand reopened. The doors caved inward creating a small opening. She places her hands along the edge and pushes until the doors folded open"-that."

She leaned against the frame, breathing hard, "I did it!"

"She grew up on a planet with five times the g that we're used to." Kraglin explained," it makes for strong kids."

Yondu wasn't impressed, "Next time you break my ship girly, the replacement is coming out of your paycheck."

Gamora blinked, "I'm getting paid!?" Oblo and Kraglin stepped through the door.

Yondu sighed, "You didn't tell her?"

"Must've slipped my mind," Kraglin called over his shoulder. The further down they went the more humid it was. The underbelly of the ship was an endless dark pit of pipes and machinery. If she looked up she could see the catwalk and above that the skylight. This was the closest thing to a wide open space on the ship, the only wide open space she had been in since she was on her planet. It had been a full week since she was home with her mother. Her chest felt tight, her breath caught in her throat. She picked up the pace and grabbed onto Yondus sleeve. He gave her a curious glance but didn't push her away. Gamora told herself it was because she didn't want to get lost. Huhtar and Retch are waiting for them next to the reactor core. Even shut down, it illuminated the area in a pale white glow.

"What did you do to my baby, Huhtar?" Oblo pushed him out of the way to get to the control panel.

"Your baby?" Yondu snorted.

"I don't know!" Huhtar held up his hands defensively. "Why do you assume it's my fault? Maybe Retch did something."

"The hell I did! I actually know what I'm doing." Retch snapped irritably. "I told you she overheated."

"I know," Oblo said flatly.

"Then why are you running diagnostics again?" Retch was watching over Oblos shoulder.

"I'm double checking," Oblo said pushing Retch away from the control panel. "I don't have time to explain it to you."

"See, ya ain't better than me." Huhtar snickered.

"Oh, stars," Kraglin pinched the bridge of his nose as they dissolved into bickering and shoving each other.

"Hey!" Yondu shouted over them, his voice echoing through the hull. Gamora yanked down on Yondus sleeve when she flinches at his outburst. He placed his hand on her shoulder, reassuring the kid that he wasn't angry with her. "Kraglin, are any of these morons an expert in fusion reactors?"

"Just our head mechanic, Oblo, sir." Kraglin looked down at his tablet to cover his smirk.

"Great." Yondu snarled, "ain't there a job any half brain-dead imbecile can do?"

"Yes sir, it's basic ship maintenance!" Kraglin said it like they had won a prize on a game show. "Go on down to the garage and get to work." Retch and Huhtar hurried past them occasionally shoving each other as they went. Gamora giggled watching them retreat, it surprised Kraglin. "You liked that, huh?"

Gamora clapped a hand over her mouth and ducked behind Yondu. "No! And I don't like you either!"

Yondu looked down at Gamora his mouth twitch into a smile for a moment. Kraglin would have missed it if he didn't know to look for it. "You should go with them." Yondu nodded towards the ramp. "Keep 'em outta trouble."

"Should I take donut head along?" Kraglin asked.

"They're not donuts." It was a half-hearted protest, "I'd rather stay here."

"A'right," Kraglin nodded and hurried after the others.

Gamora held the flashlight for Oblo as he worked on the reactor core. Yondu leaned against the railing, watching them work. "Can ya patch 'er?"

"A new cooling system might be a temporary fix," Oblo muttered his attention split between Yondu and the core, "But power failures have been more frequent lately. It might be time to replace her."

"Damn," Yondu turned to look out into the darkness, he clicked his transmitter on. "Kraglin where's the nearest pit stop?"

Kraglin and Horuz were standing in the hallway while the muscle pried the door open. He opened up the star charts on his tablet. "Leeto is a hundred bits out, forty if we jump."

He heard someone in the background, Oblo says, "we could try using the cooling system from the warp drive on the reactor but jumping is…" Kraglin stopped listening. The doors were forced apart until they clicked in place. The garage was lit up, which was weird because Kraglin swore he turned off all the lights. The room was hotter than usual as well. Now that Kraglin was thinking about it, the whole ship felt warm, and he knew the air conditioner was turned off. Then he saw why.

"That'll be all," Yondu was going to close the channel but the panic in Kraglin's voice stopped him.

"Hey, can you see out a window right now?"

"I'm in the underbelly Krags" Yondu replied dryly, "Why?"

"No reason, really, only without the thrusters keeping us afloat, we're being pulled into a freaking star!" Kraglin pulled at his hair with one hand.

"Get moving on those ships, now! Find Tullk he never keeps his transmitter on him, I want to know how much time we have!" Yondu barked the order.

Kraglin took a deep breath, "Aye, sir." He had to watch his step as wires cover the floor. The crew was already stripping apart the fighter ships to get to their power supply. The M-ships were the first ones done. Horuz was directing everyone, and working on the more complicated ships. Kraglin found Tullk underneath the Scarab, "I'll trade ya."

He rolled out from under the ship, Kraglin waved the tablet in the air. Tullk stood up wiping his hands on his pants, he glanced outside, "That sol looks a lil' big."

"Does it? Does it, Tullk? Almost like we're falling into it?!" Kraglin shoved the tablet and transmitter into Tullks hands. He laid on his back and rolled under the ship.

"You're mean when you're panic-y," Tullk muttered.

He heard Gamoras voice over the transmitter, "He's always mean. It's his dumpster fire of a personality."

"Hey, I heard that!" Kraglin yelled.

"You were supposed to!" Gamora shouted back, Tullk snorted.

Kraglin pulled a metal panel away, revealing the machinery. He started to redirect the power supply from the Scarab, and into the cables. He liked working with his hands, it distracted him from how terrible everything else was. Kraglin almost didn't want to ask the question that was burning into his mind. "How long until we die?"

"At our current acceleration, we'll hit terminal velocity and fall into the star in roughly an hour, the g-force will crush our internal organs and pop our blood vessels," Tullk stated this in a leisurely tone that was infuriating to Kraglin. "but first we'll reach what I like to call the Danger Zone, where the heat will cook us alive."

Yondu said several obscene things that matched the way Kraglin was feeling. "Fan-freaking-tastic," He muttered as he finished working on the ship. How could Tullk be calm about this? They were all going to die.

"We're all going to die." Gamora echoed Kraglins thoughts.

"We almost die every week, mate." Tullk handed the tablet back to Kraglin. "I trust that Kraglin and the Cap can get us out of it."

"Glad someone does" Kraglin sighed trying to keep his feelings of impending doom from overwhelming him. "Horuz this one's done!" He placed his hand on the ship and immediately pulled it away. The metal was burning.

"Tullk, take whoever you want and get to the control room, be ready to fly her out," Yondu barked the order. Kraglin could tell the stress was getting to him.

"Aye aye, Captain," Tullk tossed the transmitter back to Kraglin and headed for the door.

The room was sweltering. Kraglin had to wear gloves so the metal paneling wouldn't blister his skin. He abandoned the jacket a while ago. The star loomed ever larger, a physical countdown to their deaths. Kraglin needed to keep working, keep moving. He checked their power supply for the fifth time in ten minutes. They had drained the battery from nearly all the fighter ships. It still wasn't enough. He could feel the gravity pushing down on them. "Horuz how much longer?" Kraglin yelled across the room.

Horuz was bent over the Anilius, "Hang on!"

Kraglins heart leaped into his throat, his skin felt like it was on fire. Looking out the window the star eclipsed everything. He felt the ship shift under his feet, as the thrusters kicked on. Kraglin braced himself against the wall as the ship tilted to the left. Anything not nailed down slid across the floor. They pulled away from the star but it wasn't enough to break free from orbit. They needed the last ship, "Horuz!"

"Almost," Horuz muttered, holding onto the Anilius with one hand. The Eclector couldn't hold up under the stress for much longer. The crew wasn't doing much better under the force of the acceleration. "There!" Horuz slammed the key into the engine and started her. There was another burst of acceleration as the ship pulled free of the star's gravity well. Kraglins knees gave out, he slumped against the wall. The crushing gravity was dizzying, he was on the brink of unconsciousness. The room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as the star became another light in the sky. The temperature dropped from hellish to tolerable. The crew cheered, as Tullk leveled the Eclector out.

"We can't celebrate yet, we're still dead in the water." Kraglin was thinking out loud, adrenaline made his heart pound. "Tullk can ya slow her down?"

"I can't she's all out of juice." Tullk sound apologetic.

Yondus voice came over the comms, "No we ain't."

The force of the acceleration needed to pull out from orbit had knocked Gamora unconscious. She lay in a heap on the floor, she would have some nasty bruises in the morning. The first time in high gravity was never easy for anyone. The reactor core whirled and flickered to life, its white light mixing with the teal glow of the cooling system. Oblo laughed and rubbed his palms together. "Come on baby, come on!" The roar of the turbines echoed. Yondu could feel the ship shifting under him, the core flickered. An alarm went off and a moment later the core died. "That's all she's got. It has to be enough." Oblo shot Yondu a worried look, "has to be."

"Tullk where we at?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a demand.

The signal was bad at the bottom of the ship, Tullks voice sounded grainy. "We're on course, Captain, coming in hot."

Yondu nodded, "Oblo how long until you can do that again?"

Oblo arched his eyebrows, then looked at the core. "Well, uh,"

"How long, Oblo?" he stated each word like it was its own sentence.

"Hour maybe two." Oblo blurted out.

"Do it." Then said into his transmitter, "Tullk slow her down as much as ya can." Yondu forced himself to relax. All they could do now was keep busy and wait, he looked down at Gamora. They had been steadily dropping to low gravity for the past few minutes, Yondu lifted her up with some effort. She looked healthier and she was stronger than before. Gamora shifted in her sleep resting her head on Yondus shoulder. He thought that she was almost cute when she wasn't talking.


	3. The Joker

Thanos spared no expense when it came to his fleet of warships. It was an audacious display of ludicrous wealth and power. They were famous throughout the galaxy for being the harbingers of death and destruction. Those who had been unlucky enough to see the war fleet in person said that the last thing you see are the massive black ships blotting out the sun before Thanos destroyed your planet. It was that reputation that convinced warlords like Ronan the Accuser, to work with Thanos. Like all the other ships in Thanos’ fleet, it looked like it was designed by a pre-teen going through their edgy phase. The hull was black and accented with electric purple. Fortunately, someone had talked Thanos out of painting the interior walls black as well. Despite the warships monstrous reputation, the inside was cozy, warm even. The interior felt like a luxurious hotel from Titans fallen empire. To Peter, it was a soft place to land but it could never be a home.

He had arrived at the conference room early and was waiting for the meeting to start. He sat in a random seat watching the local news on his transmitter. The pretty newscaster was speaking in fast Standard, Peter only caught about every other word. Someone had been broadcasting security footage to the common channels during the Rho mission. The footage was low quality, glitching occasionally. A group of civilians, several families with children, are cut down by a figure hidden in shadows. What's left of their bodies litter the floor, blood and meat are splattered on the walls. There's a white glowing ring around the pupils of the killer. She looks into the camera before the broadcast cuts to static. They were calling her the Reaper of Rho. Those same eyes glare at him but despite her best efforts, they carry no real malice. Nebula pushes his transmitter down, leaning into his personal space. “Peter, you're not listening to me!”

“Sorry,” Peter exhales slowly and chuckles. ”What are you whining about?” 

“I'm ten now, I don't whine.” Nebula puts her hands on her hips. “I want you to trade jobs with me. Ever since Rho daddy dearest has been giving you all the good jobs.”

Peter tilts his head to the side, pocketing his transmitter. “There are good jobs? No one told me.”

“You're deflecting, I hate it when you do that.” Nebula sighs taking a step away from him. “I'm stuck guarding the white coat, again.” 

“Well, if the great Reaper of Rho is too weak to handle one little escort mission, I guess I could take it off your hands.” Peter says trying to get a rise out of her.

“I’m stronger than you in hand-to-hand combat, Peter. I don't need to hide behind all those shiny toys.” She snaps waving a hand at the holstered gun. “This is grunt work, I could do it in my sleep!” 

Peter chuckles, “you had a Marty Mcfly chicken moment, there.” 

“You're insufferable,” Nebula says and Peter clucks like a chicken at her. The white coat clears his throat and they turn to look at him. He's standing awkwardly in the doorway of the meeting room. “You must be Dr. Morgen. I'm Nebula and this is Thanos’ dog, Peter.” 

“It's nice to meet you both,” it says.

“That was mean Neb! They called you a dog of war too.” Peter winces at the nickname, “if you apologize, maybe I’ll trade jobs with you.” Nebula jerks her head to the side, tensing slightly. She whispers her apology and Peter pretends he can't hear her, “repeat that.”

“I said I'm sorry!” It sounds like it's physically painful for her to say.

Peter grins, “apology accepted. Did you want some tea? I'm gonna make tea.”

Nebula stares at him with a blank look on her face. Peter muses that she wanted to argue more, or wasn't expecting him to give in so easily, or both. Nebula was angry at the universe, at Thanos, but she didn't know it yet. Peter didn't mind being her punching bag, he was angry too. “Oh, sure,” she mumbles falling into the chair traditionally reserved for the captain. He almost felt sorry for whoever would be saddled with the task of asking her to move. The not-corpses that have rank, file into the room to take their seats as Peter boils water. He likes the time they spent traveling during missions. Even traveling at light speed it took weeks to go anywhere. He could pretend his life was somewhat normal when it was only him and his sister on a ship. There were no servants to keep him from making his own tea and no strict training regiment. He pours the tea into two mugs, adding extra sweetener to one. The smell makes his chest hurt and it takes him a minute to realize he's sad, Lightvale tea was Heather's favorite. Heather Douglas was their youngest sister, she couldn't go on missions yet.

“Thanks,” he sets the tea down in front of Nebula. Peter leans against the door frame, sipping his tea leisurely as the meeting begins. The not-corpses go over the plan while speaking sternly and pointing fingers at each other. His attention drifts to the fake window, it was a looping video of R Aquarii. He remembers someone had told him it was a solar system with two stars in a symbiotic relationship, whatever that meant. His attention is grabbed by a hologram of the science vessel carrying their target, he remembers he’s supposed to be listening. “...would rather blow up the ship than lose the target. If I enter through the cargo bay, I can get to the core first and keep the ship from self-destructing.” Nebula said, leaning forward to manipulate the hologram. “Peter will board the ship after me.” 

“I’ll get the white coat to the thingamajig, so he can retrieve it in one piece.” Peter waved his mug at the hologram. 

There was lots of confused muttering and pointed looks in his direction. “Peter will protect Dr. Morgen so he can retrieve the target. That's all you had to say!” Nebula snaps at him.

Peter shrugged, “I don't see what's so hard to understand.” Nebula looked like she wanted to say more but the meeting resumes, so she settles for glaring at him. Peter makes faces at her for the rest of the meeting. These meetings were so boring and dull, he wonders why he bothers attending. 

~~•˖✧•★•✧˖•~~

Morgen fidgets with the atmospheric suit clipped to his chest. Thanos’ destroyer shutters as somewhere within, missiles are fired at the enemy warships. He leans against the wall trying to steady himself. Nebula was pacing between the armory and the airlock like a tiger pacing her cage. It was unnerving to see children in a military setting. What kind of universe sent children to war? The ship shuttered again. Peter pulls a large blaster off the wall, it was easily twice his size. Nebula stops outside the doorway, “you don't need that.”

“Nobody needs an LC800,” Peter grins loading rounds into the blaster, “they're fun!”

“Would it kill you to take this seriously?” Nebula turned to pace back to the airlock. Peter ignores her strapping the larger blaster to his back. He carefully loads a new magazine into his handgun. “Won't be long now,” Nebula said, she was watching the battle through the glass doors of the airlock. Peter grabbed a spare atmosphere suit and joined Nebula. Morgen couldn't keep his hands from shaking, his heartbeat drummed in his ears. He reassured himself that he would be fine.

Nebula activated her suit and stepped into the airlock. “Have fun storming the castle!” Peter chirped, Nebula punches the button to open the door. There's a hint of a smile as she's yanked out into space. The wreckage of the warships escorting the science vessel obscured the light of a nearby star. Streaks of red flame erupted from the vessel moving towards Nebula. Peter laughed, “is she shooting at us? That's adorable.” Morgen was uncertain if the boy was talking to him, but nodded along anyway. The destroyer retaliated, the missiles crashed into each other in a fiery explosion. Nebula disappeared into the smoke. Morgen tightened his grip on the tool bag until his knuckles turned white. He was going to be sick. Peter activates his atmosphere suit, “muscle up buttercup, we're going next!” 

“While they're still shooting at us?!” Morgen backpedaled until he was pressed up against the wall. Before Morgen can react, Peter activates Morgen's suit and opens the inner airlock doors. They're yanked into space with a pop of air. Peter grabs Morgen by the back of his shirt, as his rocket boots click on. There was a blinding explosion to their right as a missile shoots past overhead. They fly through the smoke as another missile flies directly at them. In one swift motion, Peter shoulders the LC800 and fires it. A multi-colored laser with a burning white center erupts from the blaster smashing into the target. Peter is thrown back as the missile explodes, his shoulder slams into Morgen’s chest. He gasps, closing his eyes tightly. He can hear Peter laughing over the transmitter as he yanks Morgen towards the science vessel. He hits the ship hard rolling forward, the magnetic boots keep him from floating away. Everything is spinning. He tries to keep from hyperventilating and there's a sharp pain in his chest with every breath he takes. Peter is saying something, Morgen focuses on his words to keep him grounded, “your transmitter, white coat!” Peter is pointing to his ear with one hand, his mask distorting his voice. Morgen fumbles with the transmitter but eventually clicks it on. Peter aims the blaster at another missile and laughs gleefully when the laser finds its mark. “I've gotta get me one of these babies!”

Morgen winces as he gets to his feet, “I think my ribs are broken.”

There's a whirring sound echoing from deep within the science vessel. The lights around the airlock shut down, and the missiles disappear from the sky. Nebula opens a channel. “I've shut down the core, Peter have you boarded the ship? You better not be messing around with the LC800.”

Peter let's go of the blaster and it floats behind him as he moves towards the airlock. He blows a raspberry, “of course I'm on the ship, Neb.” Morgen trudged into the airlock after him. Peter had to manually close the door and pressurize the chamber. Morgen disables his atmosphere suit and regrets it immediately. He pulls his jacket over his nose and mouth trying to ward off the smell of death. Three guards lay dead in a pool of their own blood. Peter steps over corpses, drawing his handgun as he checks the hallway. Morgen tries to step around them and there's an uncomfortable squishing sound. He staggers forward and pukes. "Watch it, man!” Peter jumps out of the way, "first time seeing a corpse? Most people react like that."

Morgen nods, trying not to think about the corpses or who might be on the bottom of his shoe. Keeping one hand on the wall, Morgen follows Peter down the hallway. The emergency lights pulse creating ripples of blue light, the red glow from Peters mask washes everything in purple. He signals for Morgen to stop, they crouch outside the door to the stairwell. There are voices and footsteps drawing closer, Morgen holds his breath. Peter ducks around the door frame and the sound of gunfire rings in Morgen's ears. He can't forget the way they screamed when they died. Peter pulls back to safety as the enemy returns fire. They're firing at them with reckless abandon. The bullets turn the door into swiss cheese and it falls forward. Morgens not sure how long the shootout lasts. Peter doesn't shoot often but when he does, he never misses. He pushes the enemy back down the stairs and Morgen watches from a safe distance. There are five corpses on the stairwell and two still alive on the lower level. 

“Who the hell is that?!” The enemy shouts retreating down the hallway.

“Some people call me the space cowboy, yeah.” Peters’ voice echoes down the hallway, the tune is cheerfully out of place and comes off as creepy. He hops down the steps four at a time, then dives and rolls to safety.

“I've never heard of you space cowboy,” the other guard grunts, before firing off a few rounds. They were shooting sparsely, it wouldn’t be long until they ran out of bullets.

“Some people call me the gangster of love,” Peter continues singing over the gunfire. Peter shoots the first guard in the chest. His buddy pulls them into a nearby storage closet, for cover. “Some people call me Maurice, ‘cause I speak of the pompitous of love.”

“Pompitous isn't a word,” Morgen mutters as he inched his way down the steps, Peter laughs in response. That's when Morgen realized that Peter was toying with them. This wasn't a life or death situation for him, this was fun. 

“No, no, oh gods!” The first guard cries out, “That's one of Thanos’ dogs! That's--” Peter leaped forward so he could get a clear shot on them. The first guards head splatters against the walls as he slumps over dead in the arms of his friend. The guard started to beg as Peter stalks towards them. Morgen couldn't watch anymore.

“I really hate that nickname.” There was a sickening crunch of bone. Morgen shudders as he listens to the man's dying breaths. “I'm not anyone's dog.” Peter replaces the magazine in his blaster with a heavy sigh. “Neb gets all the cool nicknames it's not fair.” Morgen gags as he steps around the corpses head, or what was left of it--him. These were people, people with family and loved ones. Peter didn't even hesitate to kill them. There was something deeply unsettling about someone so young being capable of such brutality. Morgen wouldn't admit it but Peter made his skin crawl. Peter waves for Morgen to follow as he cleared the next hallway for danger. Morgen keeps a safe distance between them. 

Peter stopped him in the corridor before engineering, there were two people guarding the door. They didn't notice Peter until it was too late. His movements were fast and methodical, it was barely a fight. Peter checked inside engineering, moving silently, “Clear!” he pulled the corpses out of the way, as Morgen entered. “This the target?” 

“She's beautiful.” A black sleek computer that was roughly the size of a refrigerator, sat dormant in the middle of the room. Morgen opened his tool bag and began disconnecting her from the ship.

Peter sat on top of the ships navigation system and deactivated his mask. “What does it do, exactly?”

“She’s a highly advanced artificial intelligence, designed to keep ships or space stations fully operational without a crew.” Peter accidentally pulled a panel off the protective shell on the artificial intelligence. He tried to hide it behind his back, Morgen took the panel from him. “Please don't break the work engineering genius. There are only three of them in existence.” He explains reattaching the panel.

Morgen got to work in silence for all of five minutes, “Can it shoot lasers?” 

Morgen furrowed his eyebrows, “can it…shoot lasers?” As far as Morgen could tell Peter was being completely serious, “I guess if she was piloting a warship.” 

The weight of that statement, and what it would mean for the galaxy, hung in the air, “oh” was all Peter could say. Sorrow flashed across his face before he put on the mask. He let Morgen work in silence. “We should get going,” Peter said once Morgen was finished. The low gravity made it easy to transport the AI off the ship without too much hassle. It also helped that Peter had already killed most of the working crew. 

“Hey, Neb!” Peter sang into his transmitter, “got the target we’re heading back now.”

“It's about time, I'm dying of boredom,” Nebula said.

Morgen carried the AI up the steps. Peter skipped ahead, kicking the corpses out of the way. “Let's make things interesting then, I'll race you back, loser gets flambéed.”

“What do you mean flambéed?” Morgen asked and was ignored.

He was surprised to hear Nebula chuckle, “you sure? That white coat and their shiny calculator are dead weight.”

“Worried you’ll lose?” 

“You've got ten minutes,” Nebula said, “I hope those cybernetic enhancements of yours can handle a little fire.” 

“Someone tell me what flambéed means!” Morgen didn't mean to yell, but his panic was getting the better of him. That's when the emergency lights changed to red, and an alarm blared over the speakers. Thirty seconds remaining, a robotic voice said, evacuate immediately. Oh. Oh god. They were going to blow the reactor. 

Peter took the AI from Morgen and took off at a jog. “It means you should run very fast!” Peter yelled to be heard over the alarms. “Let's go! Come on!” Morgen sprinted down the hallway, which was admittedly not very fast. It was all a blur of movement and deafening noise, to Morgen. He wasn't built for physical exercise and was breathing heavily. Peter was far ahead of him. He shot anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. It didn't matter, they were dead anyway. Twenty seconds, the ship said. 

As they rounded the corner Morgen could see the airlock at the end of the hall. Nebula emerged from the hallway behind Peter. She moved with frightening speed, she caught up to him without trying. She slammed Peter into the side of the hall. He stumbled regained his balance then shoved her back. She reached the airlock first, punching the button to shut the door. Before Morgen could stop Peter, he threw the AI forward. It stopped the airlock door from slamming shut. The metal frame crunched under the weight of the doors, bending inward. Morgen cringed at the damage it would cause. Peter dropped to his knees, sliding under the AI and into the airlock. He threw his arms into the air as he jumped up, “Safe!” Ten seconds, the ship said, please evacuate immediately. Morgen's legs felt like lead he wasn't going to make it in time. The air was thinner, he felt dizzy and light headed. He stumbled and fell. Four seconds remaining. Peter and Nebula were bickering in the airlock, two dark blurry figures on a red backdrop. The inner airlock door was forced open as Nebula opened the outer door. Morgen was shot out of the science vessel. The logical part of his brain remembered that if he tried to hold his breath the vacuum would pop his lungs. He fought against the urge to keep his mouth closed. The air was pulled out of him, he had fifteen seconds before he’d die. A blue figure slapped his atmospheric suit on. He gasped for breath, as she pulled him towards the destroyer. Peter and the AI floated to his left. Then the science vessel exploded.

The force of the blast threw them at a deadly speed towards the destroyer. A burning white light engulfed everything, and his skin felt like it was on fire. His shoulder was yanked out of its socket as Nebula tried to stop their momentum. The AI screeched as the metal rolled against the flight deck, sending sparks flying. They skidded to a stop, landing in a tangled heap. Nebula and Peter were laughing and arguing about who won. Morgen lay on his back breathing deeply, everything hurt. Pain blossomed from Morgen's ribs, hip, and shoulder. As the only person without a superhuman healing ability, he would need to take medication for the exposure to the radiation for the rest of his life. “Hey doc, you still alive?” Peter leaned over him, he had deactivated his mask. Morgen watched with fascination as a bruise on Peter’s cheek faded until it disappeared. 

“Yeah,” Morgen's voice cracked, he swallowed and started again, “yeah, I'm alive.” 

Peter exhaled loudly, “oh thank god, Thanos would kill me if I broke his nerd.” Morgen chuckled, but something about the way Peter said it told him it wasn't a joke. “Ya know, you're not too bad for a white coat, Morgen.” 

“Uh, thanks?” Morgen let his eyes droop closed, as the medical team arrived. He realized before unconsciousness enveloped him, that was the first time Peter called him by his name. It would be a long trip home.


	4. Love The One Your With

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna absolutely butcher heathers backstory (actually ill probably butcher everyones backstory, sorry) And hey, Thanks.

A spaceship exploded, but it wasn't Nebulas fault this time. Heather stumbled out of her lab seconds before her lab exploded. She was clutching the only surviving specimen to her chest. The explosion sounded like a thunderclap echoing through the bones of the ship. The tremor that followed knocked her off balance, she fell, dropping the specimen. It squeaked indignantly and ran as fast as its small furry legs could carry it. Peter stumbled out of his cabin in his light blue pajamas and pink bunny slippers. "Grab that musty!" Heather scrambled to her feet and ran towards them.

"The what?" Peter squinted at her, he was still half asleep. The specimen scurried around Peter’s feet, he yelped in surprise and drew his handgun. Heather tackled him as he fired. The bullet ricocheted off the floor shattering the ceiling light. Peter yanked Heather out of harm's way as broken glass rained down. The specimen fled down the hallway, squealing in fear.

"I need it alive!" Heather shouted to hear over the ringing in her ears. She chased after the specimen, glass crunching under her slippers.

Nebula’s cabin door slid open, wondering what kind of moron would fire a gun in an enclosed space. Her gaze settled on Peter, "I'm trying to sleep, you invertebrate sewage dweller!"

"Can't argue right now, need to catch a rodent!" Peter pointed down the hallway.

"What? Peter, hey!" Nebula and Peter easily caught up with Heather. "What the hell is going on?"

Heather had lost sight of the specimen, she dropped to the floor looking under a table. "One of my specimens escaped, I need it back."

Nebula took a cautious step back, "the one with the contagious disease, that eats people's eyes?"

Heather cringed trying to come up with a delicate way to say yes. "Seriously?" Peter yelled.

"I am this close to developing a cure," Heather said in her defense. "That specimen is immune to the disease, I need to," A chorus of high pitched screams cut Heather off.

"I found your musty." Nebula headed in the direction of the screaming.

Peter grabbed Heather by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. She found herself looking down at the metal floors, she pushed herself upright. "This is highly unnecessary!"

"You're too slow," Peter offers as an explanation. Heather squirmed trying to get comfortable. She twisted around until she was sitting on his shoulder. They followed the sound to the servants quarters. Noihr and Lytah shrieked as the rodent scurried past them. Hexia tried to stomp on it.

"Don't kill it!" Heather shrieked, and Peter shoved Hexia aside. Nebula snatched the specimen off the ground but it wriggled out of her grasp. In a blind panic, the specimen squeezed into the air vent. Nebula rips it off the wall and makes a futile attempt to grab it. Her thoughts clouded with fear and that turned to rage. She punched the wall, chipping away the drywall and revealing the metal paneling beneath.

Heather knew she should have been more careful, this was her fault. If she had been faster or stronger like her older siblings the specimen wouldn't have escaped. Now they could have an epidemic on their hands. Heather rested her cheek against Peter’s head. "Chillax Neb, we'll find it." He sounded confident despite his own thoughts drifting to the worst case scenario.

Several insults past through Nebula’s mind before she settled on, "you bird brain, it could be anywhere on the station by now! How in the seven hells are we supposed to catch it?"

"We could smoke it out," Peter suggested.

"We're not going to poison our own air supply." Nebula wrinkled her nose at him.

"Can't handle a little poison, Smurfette?" It sounded like a challenge.

Nebula rolled her eyes, "How can so much stupid reside in such a small person?"

“I'm not small! I'm taller than you!” Peter said indignantly. They kept arguing but Heather wasn't listening anymore. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing until everything else fell away. At first, she could hear the thoughts of the people closest to her as indistinct whispering. Their thoughts grew louder as she reaches out further. Soon hundreds of voices joined the choir. She could feel the servants sleeping in their quarters, Thanos doing paperwork, Proxima Midnight and her husband sparring. They were all shouting at her, it felt like someone was driving an ax through her skull. She still hadn't found what she was looking for. She reaches out. Heather was wading through the sea of voices until she finds it; a less complex consciousness. She lets all the other voices fade into the background. Heather had only tried this once before on an insect, with guidance from Ebony Maw. She latched onto the specimens stream of consciousness and pushed her way in. It put up more of a fight than Heather expected but she overpowered the creature.

Heather blinks her eyes rapidly, as she adjusts to seeing through the rodent's eyes. There were colors she had never seen before, colors her language had no words for. The number of foreign sounds and smells was overwhelming, every sound is crisper, louder. She was moving fast. She felt comfortable in the darkness, running through the air vents with no destination in mind. There are flashes of light, glimpses of ships and boxes. There were big men with guns and others in long white coats unloading equipment. Someone was speaking in a language she didn't understand, his voice booming through the vents. It was familiar but she couldn't place who the voice belonged to. She had a craving for raw meat, she should have been fed by now. She had never been so far from the safety of her box of wood chips, it was very frightening.

"Jellybean?" Suddenly she was somewhere else, someone else. Her vision dulled to muted tones, and her head is throbbing. She rubs her eyes and felt for whiskers that weren't there. She traced the red swirls on her olive green skin curiously with her finger. She could have sworn she had fur, but no, that was wrong. "Jellybean, are you okay?" It took her a moment to shake off the feeling of being a musty. She remembered who the voice belongs too.

"I know where the specimen is," Heather said placing one hand on Peter's head to steady herself. "It's on the lower levels of the flight deck." Nebula and Peter exchanged glances both confused on how Heather got this information. She sighed trying to come up with a simplified explanation of the experience, "I projected my consciousness into the specimens mind."

"You can do that?" Peter asked out of disbelief.

"Ebony taught me how," Heather says with a hint of pride.

"We're wasting time. Let's go before we have an epidemic on our ship," Nebula pointed down the hallway. Peter and Nebula ran back the way they came, heading for the main stairwell. "I'll guard the vents on the flight deck. You two find the musty."

"Gotcha, we got time for a quick snack?" Peter asked Nebula, she rolled her eyes in response. "No? Not even one of those protein bars?"

"I like those!" Heather chimed in.

"You're both the worst!" Nebula shouted as she lunges over the railing on the stairwell.

Peter leaned over the railing, watching Nebula drop down to the basement level. "Fine. We'll stop the epidemic first, and then get a snack," he said. Heather clung tightly to Peter as he jumped over the railing. She closed her eyes as the ground rushed to meet them. "How's the weather up there?" Peter asked as they landed.

"Never do that again, please." Heather squeaked, opening her eyes slowly.

"Sorry, I forgot you're allergic to hights." Peter weaved through the hallways, pushing disgruntled servants out of the way. They took a shortcut to the flight deck through the cargo bay. Peter punched the button to open the door, the light flashed red and beeped. It was locked. "Oh come on," He tapped his pockets and then froze. He forgot his security access card in his cabin.

"I have mine," Heather hand it to him.

He swiped it thought lock. "You're a lifesaver, Jellybean!" Heather smiled, happy to be helpful. Peter bounced on the balls of his feet as the door slid open. They arrived moments after Nebula did. "Okay, where is it?" Peter scanned the flight deck but couldn't find the rodent. Scientists and hired guns milled about the room unloading the ships.

Heather closed her eyes. She knew reaching out again would only make her headache worse, but she needed to try. She knew she could do this. It was easier to find the specimens consciousness the second time. Heather latched onto its mind, pushing her way in. She exhaled slowly, as she adjusted to her heightened senses. It was huddled between the wall and a large computer. Across the room, there were creates labeled rations. It was safe in the shadows. There were too many giants around to risk moving. The hunger was stronger now, she could smell meat somewhere to her left.

Something soft is pressed against her face. "...ears are bleeding!" She panicked, recoiling away from the offending object. Her eyes flew open, she was uncertain of where or who she was. Everything felt wrong. The pain in her head was unbearable. The bright lights and noise only made it worse. It was too much. She couldn't take it anymore. No more. No more. No more.

~~•˖✧•★•✧˖•~~

His Jellybean pressed the palm of her hands into her eyes. Peter had set her down on the table after she nearly fell off his shoulders. Nebula stood vigilant by the air vent, looking for the musty. Morgen set down his work and fetched the emergency first aid kit when he saw Heather's ears were bleeding. Heather was hyperventilating, consumed by panic and pain. She kept muttering the words, "no more," over and over again.

"No more what? What do you need?" Peter asked gently.

"It's too much, too bright, too noisy." Heather murmured, shaking her head back and forth.

Peter could fix that. Morgen set the first aid kit down, "can I help?"

"Nah we're good, gimme this," he yanked a tie from Morgen's collar. He carefully tied it around Heather's eyes, "Is that better? Not too tight?" she nodded adjusting the blindfold. Peter pulled out his Walkman from his back pocket. He slipped the headphones over Jellybean’s ears and cranked the volume. He could hear Love The One You're With by Stephen Stills playing through his headphones. Peter sat next to her on the table, Jellybean leaned against him. She dropped her arms to her sides, resting a hand on top of Peters. When the song ends, Peter turns down the music so Heather can hear him. "Where is the musty?"

Jellybean tugged the blindfold off but kept the headphones. She glanced around the room and pointed to the far wall. There is a pile of crates full of food rations, and a desk. Morgen checked Heather for any serious head injury and helped her clean up the blood. Peter slid off the table and crept across the room. He knelt down to look under the desk, and he locked eyes with the musty. Its black fur turned grey from dust, its round brown eyes hungry and afraid. Its pink ears twitched irritably.

Peter dragged the desk away from the wall with one swift movement. The musty sprinted towards the crates, and Peter gave chase. He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and an anesthetic as his enhancements kicked in. The musty moved surprisingly fast for something so small. It squeezed into a crate, and Peter kicked it over. Meat and dairy products slid across the room, along with the musty. It squealed in fear running through the crowd of not yet corpses. Peter shoved them out of the way as he ran. One of the not-corpses panicked as the musty scurried by and opened fire. Heather shouted, "don't shoot," as Peter jumped into the line of fire and drew his own blaster on it. Headshot, bonus points! The corpse fell limply to the floor. Blood splattered across the floor where the musty had been, Peter hoped it came from the corpse.

The musty ran over Morgen's foot. He screamed in a falsetto and punted it across the room. Morgen lept backward, fumbling onto the table. The musty bounced once and slid under a warship. Peter was too busy laughing at Morgen to notice the toolbox on the floor. He tripped, knocking files off the table as he fell. Paper flew everywhere, covering the floor and Peter. "Idiots!" Nebula shouted kicking a crate in front of the air vent, before running towards the warship. She dropped to the floor as Peter sat up. "I can't get them out," she was on her belly, reaching under the warship.

Heather pulled the headphones off, "its hungry, try luring it out with meat."

Nebula grabbed one of the rations of meat from the floor and opened the packaging. "Pete, grab that jar."

Peter mumbles, "okay.” He was preoccupied with the new bullet holes his blood-soaked shirt. Sure, being shot stung a little, but it absolutely ruined clothing. He'd have to throw this shirt away. Peter sighed, grabbed an open jar off the ground. 

Nebula set out the meat and backed away. There was a tense moment while they waited for the musty to immerge. The musty crept out from under the warship. It watched them with frightened beady eyes. Its nose twitched twice, and it ran directly for the meat. Peter slammed the jar down, trapping the musty inside. "I got it, ” he announced. Heather and Morgen got down from the table. Morgen punched holes into the lid of the jar with his knife and handed it to Nebula. She slid a piece of paper under the jar and flipped it over. The musty squealed and pawed at the side of the jar, as she put the lid on it.

Heather took the jar from Nebula, "thanks, Neby. I am sorry for bothering you with all of this. I know it's late, and you have training tomorrow.”

Nebula sighed shifting her weight uncomfortably, she stole a glance in Peter’s direction. She almost felt a bit jealous of Peter and Heather’s relationship. She never came to Nebula with her problems and Nebula wasn’t the first react when Heather was in trouble. “Sometimes,” Nebula couldn't say any of that, and blurted out, “you don't always bother me.”

Heather stares down at the jar. “You’re not always a terrible older sister.”

Nebula rolled her eyes and nudged Heather with her elbow, "nerd."

The room relaxed with the threat neutralized. Morgen was sifting through his papers salvaging what he could, most of them had been soaked in blood and then stepped on. The cleaning bots milled about the room trying to mop up the blood. One cleaning bot kept running into Lijah’s dead body while beeping in distress. The hired guns stood to the side of the room, they have all awaken to the fact that their lives mean nothing here. Some of them are terrified or angry, none of them know what to do. The scientist and engineers had fled the moment Lijah had fired at the musty. Peter won't be reprimanded for killing Lijah. In fact, he would be replaced by the end of the week. Heather took off the headphones and handed Peter his walkman. "I think I got blood on your headphones."

Peter shrugged, returning his walkman to his back pocket. "Don't worry about it, Jellybean, I'm covered in it."

Heather knit her eyebrows together, "I see that, are you okay?"

Peter did his best to clean himself up with a towel, "ah this is nothing."

"You've been shot four times how are you standing right now?" Morgen pushed up his glasses.

"Cybernetic enhancements pump you full of adrenaline and an anesthetic," Nebula explained.

"Huh?" Peter looked down at his chest counting three bullet holes. His hand went to his head, "Oh my god! That bastard shot my ear off, oh my god!" He jumped up and down while shouting and then kicked Lijahs corpse.

Heather pursed her lips, "it will grow back."

"I thought this was nothing?" Nebula says in a mocking tone.

"I lost an ear!" Peter shouted melodramatically, "I need those, Nebula!" He kicked Lijahs corpse again. It didn't make him feel any better. He watched as two cleaning bots got caught on Lijahs corpse and together they pushed it across the floor while beeping in distress.

"Poor baby lost one ear," Nebula said sarcastically, gesturing at him with her bionic arm. "That's really awful. I feel so bad for you!"

Peter cringed, "ah I forgot you were… you know."

"You forgot!?" Nebulas hand went to her hip, but she’s in her pajamas. She didn't sleep with her throwing knives, so she settled for throwing her forearm at him.

Peter ducked and it sailed over his head. "I said I was sorry!"

"No, you didn't."

"Oh well," He grabbed Nebulas forearm off the ground. "I'm keeping this."

"Peter," Nebula stalked towards him.

Heather giggled as Nebula chased Peter around the crates. Peter hit Nebula with her own arm, every time she got close. He kept shouting "why are you hitting yourself?" Until Nebula lost her temper and smashed through the crate. She tackled Peter to the ground. His elbow slammed into her gut. Nebula grabbed his arm, twisting it and until he dropped her forearm. Peter kicked her away, but her forearm skidded across the floor to Morgen's feet.

Peter shoves Nebula away, and he holds up his hands for Morgen to throw him Nebulas arm. Nebula shoves Peter while glaring at Morgen with murderous intent. He panicked and tossed Nebula her arm. She clicks it back into place and gets off the floor. "C'mon man, I thought we were cool!" Peter clicked his tongue at Morgen. 

"Sorry, I'm more afraid of her than I am of you," Morgen said nervously.

"I'm too cute for my own good," he decided. Nebula glared at Peter and made a point of stepping on his hand. He yelped and recoiled from her, “Oh sorry Nebula. I just forgot how ugly your face was up close for a moment.”

Heather bit back a laugh. "Don't encourage him," Nebula glares at Heather, "he's not funny. You're not funny."

“Sorry,” Heather hid her smile behind her hand. “That was mean, Pete.”

 

“Not my fault Neb was born without a sense of humor,” Peter said. Another mean spirited remark passed through his mind. 

Heather was quick to change the subject before they got into another argument. "Hey, can we get that snack now?"

"Hell yes, I'm starving," Peter lead Heather towards the door. Nebula folded her arms across her chest, jutting out one hip. She wanted to come but didn't want to admit it. Peter turned and waved at Morgen, "see ya, doc."

Morgen looked up from his paperwork, "see you, space cowboy." He glanced at Nebula quizzically, she was standing there looking dejected. He didn't have to be a telepath to know what she was thinking. He sighed, "those two will destroy the mess hall without supervision, you know."

Nebula nodded, taking the excuse, "yeah it'd be irresponsible of me to let them go alone." She raced to catch up with them. Heather was waiting for her, holding the door open. Nebula berated them loudly for always causing trouble and Peter called her a stuck up goodie two shoes. Heather put up with their argument about literally nothing, until they reached the mess hall. She threatened to report them both to Thanos for being up past curfew. That shut them up, fast. They had the mess hall all to themselves and the servants made them snacks and hot tea. Peter was eager to tell Heather about their mission, and Nebula talked over him whenever she felt his version of the story strayed too far from reality. It's nights like these that make Heather feel like everything is going to be okay


	5. Runaway

The Eclector had docked earlier that day, and the whole crew got time off while the ship was being repaired. It was practically a ghost ship, only the highest ranking members of the crew were still on board. Gamora's escape plan was already in motion, acquiring an autopilot was easier than she had thought it would be. It cost a third of her paycheck, but the clerk didn't ask too many annoying questions. Like why an 7 year old needed an autopilot. Gamora wasn't fond of being dishonest and avoided it as much as she could. Her mother would be disappointed in her for lying. Gamora was sitting on top of a lamp post watching the ship from her vantage point. Kraglin left for the bar district first, followed by the second mate, leaving Yondu and Oblo alone on the ship. Gamora nibbled on one of her leftover cakes as she waited. She would only eat a little and save the rest for later. She would have to get used to rationing again, but it was a small price to pay for freedom. The street lamps quietly winked on as they approached midnight. Yondu finally left the ship, locking the main hatch behind him. Gamora waited until she was certain he was gone before sliding down the streetlamp.

With the ship locked up, Gamora had to enter the ship by more unconventional means. There were handles that went all the way around the hull, they made it easier for engineers to make repairs while in null g. She strapped her duffel bag across her back and hoisted herself up. She had to reach out and feel for the next handle, slowly inching around towards a window in the dark. She punched the window until it shattered and crawled inside the control center. From there, she unlocked the hatch on the docking bay. The moment it opened the third mate would receive a security alert, she'd have to do that last.

Gamora crept from the command center into the hangar. With the lights off the security cameras couldn't see much, but she threw a wrench at it anyway. It smashed into the camera knocking it off the wall. She turned on her transmitter, using it as a flashlight to navigate the hangar. She found the Anilius without a problem, Horuz always kept the key tapped under the steering wheel. Installing the autopilot was tricky, but after reading the instruction manual twice she finally completed the task. Gamora buckled herself into the copilot's seat, anxiety bubbled up in her stomach. She didn't want to find out what Yondu would do to her for stealing a ship.

She powered on the Anilius and enters the coordinates for her homeworld into the autopilot. When the hatch opens, every alarm goes off at once. Warning lights flash throughout the docking bay. The autopilot shoots the Anilius out of the docking bay with lightning speed. It scraps the edge of the hatch as it shuts behind her. Gamora barely has time to register what's happened before the ship pulls away from Leeto. The small red planet fades into the distance until its consumed by the void of space. And she was gone, gone, gone.

Gamora doesn't remember falling asleep but the emergency alarms jolt her awake. She can't breathe. Her vision is swimming and she's light-headed. She can barely focus on the words the ship is saying, "Warning: low air. Make an emergency stop immediately." Gamora unbuckles herself and falls onto the control panel. She changes their destination to a nearby space station. Her vision blurs and she feels herself falling, everything fades into oblivion.

When Gamora comes to, the ship's hatch is open and light is streaming through the doorway. According to her transmitter, Gamora was on a space station in the asteroid belt that surrounded the solar system. It was a two days flight from Leeto, she needed to get moving again as fast as possible. Yondu wouldn't be far behind her. Gamora ditched the red jacket for a wool sweater the tailor had knit for her. She touched the cartoon animals stitched into the hem affectionately. All the expensive gifts in the world wouldn't make up for kidnapping her. But the smallest, stupidest, part of her didn't hate Yondu for it. She tried not think about it too hard. Gamora grabbed the autopilot and the key before walking onto the docks.

The civilian dock was small and empty, there were two other ships there. They looked like they hadn't been moved in a long time. They were practically growing moss. She plugged in the Anilius to the docks, and quietly locked the ship. There was one person running the security office, they were scrolling quietly through their transmitter. Gamora had to stand on her tiptoes to ring the bell. The officer looked over Gamora's head, scanning the docks. "Down here!" she said curtly.

The officer leaned forward to look down at Gamora, "uhm, hiya darling, are your parents around?" The officers left head says.

Gamora ignored the question, "I'm docked in 5A."

The officer blinked both sets of eyes absently. "Okay," They say in unison. They looked between the Anilius and Gamora, "Where, um, are you, uh" The left head stammers falling out of unison with the right, "Where ya coming from."

"Leeto."

The officer tapped away at their console, "how long are you staying?"

"One day," Gamora said, the officer reluctantly told her the price. She tapped her transmitter against the terminal to transferred the funds. It was cheaper than Gamora expected it to be. "Do you know where I can buy air?"

"Yes," the officer right head pauses as she writes out the address. Her left head continues, "You got somewhere to stay tonight, darlin'?" Gamora shrugged, she hadn't really thought about it. She wanted to be gone before the night cycle. The officer scratched another address onto the note, before handing it to Gamora. "This place has room and board for cheap." In unison, they say, "have a safe trip."

"Thank you." Gamora nodded, tucking the note into her pocket. The officer watched Gamora passed through decontamination, and out to the main quadrant.

The space station was relatively small, with only two hundred levels and ten main quadrants. The ceiling was the same deep pink color as the sky on Leeto, and the lights mimicked sunlight. Gamora wondered who the ceiling thought it was fooling. There were little islands of exotic plants and flowers scattered throughout the corridors. It reminded Gamora of a large shopping mall on her home planet. The space station ran on Xandarian time, which meant they were in the middle of the lunch rush. She had to ask for directions twice before she found the address the officer gave her. The convenience store kept the air canisters in the back under lock and key. Gamora's heart sank when she saw the price. She pressed her forehead against the glass. She was so close to escaping them, so close she could almost taste her freedom. She needed three of air canisters to resupply the Anilius, and they were too bulky to steal all at once. Gamora never told her mother that she learned to pickpockets, she can't imagine her mother would approve of it. Gamora only took what she needed, and she needed the air canisters. She waited until the clerk was distracted by another customer before stuffing one canister into her duffel bag.

Gamora sighed and grabbed a packet of gummy fruit before heading to the checkout. She didn't mean to eavesdrop on the person in front of her but they were shouting. "It didn't cost that much yesterday!" The vaguely Xandarian boy with defiantly fluffy blonde hair was doing his very best not to whine. His words sounded clunky and rehearsed. It was like the language didn't fit comfortably in his mouth.

"There's a drought. I don't know what to tell ya Rider." The clerk growled, with a flash of fangs.

Rider took a nervous step backward, nearly bumping into Gamora, "but we need the water."

"Everyone needs the water. Either pay for it or get out." The clerk tapped his claws against the counter impatiently.

Rider glared at the floor stubbornly refusing to move. Before Gamora knew what she was doing she said, "stars and moons, I'll pay for him."

They both stared at her blankly. "Seriously?" Rider squeaked.

"Yeah, seriously." She tossed her packet of gummy fruit onto the counter. The clerk begrudgingly allowed Gamora to pay for Rider.

She handed the jug of water over to Rider and left the store. She wasn't expecting Rider to follow her, "Hey, wait a minute!" He pushed through the crowd and caught up with her. "I want to thank you for helping me out back there. My names Richie by the way."

"You're welcome," Gamora said curtly and abruptly turned the corner. Unfortunately, Richie caught up with her quickly.

"No, I mean, I want to pay you back somehow." Richie's smile faltered, "but if you really want me to leave you alone, say the word and I will."

Gamora slowed to a stop in front of a vibrant garden. She knew what it was like to feel indebted to someone and sighed. "Do you know where this is?" She showed him the second address on the note.

Richie took one look at the address and snorted, "yeah, yeah I do. Come on," she followed him through the bustling city streets. After a beat, he asks, "you got a name?"

"Nope," Gamora replies.

Richard nods thoughtfully, "I'm going to call you Princess Leia then."

Gamora rolled her eyes, "I'm not a princess."

"Are you sure? You dropped seven hundred units like it was nothing and you're wearing real wool." He reached out to touch her sweater, but Gamora swatted his hand away.

She flushed, "Are you stupid?"

Richie laughed, "sorry, sorry, It's a sensitive subject I get it." She mustered up her best glare, but it didn't faze his cheerful demeanor. Gamora stayed stubbornly silent for the rest of the walk. They wandered through back alleys to the lift and rode it down to the 27th floor. It didn't have same sparkling polished metal as the main floor, but at least the ceiling stopped pretending to be the sky. The stores and walkways were a little rusted and humble. The gardens were smaller and less vibrant but still charming. Richie grabbed a stick from a nearby garden and walked into a restaurant.

When Gamora stepped inside she was hit with a wave of warmth. The restaurant looks like any other generic diner in the galaxy. There was a smiling blonde woman working in the kitchen, and a large dog sleeping by the door. A waitress, that was a little younger than Gamora, was serving coffee to her customers. It smelled vaguely of cinnamon and butterscotch. Richie whistled suddenly throwing the stick across the room. Gamora flinched away from him, as the absolute mountain of a dog caught the stick mid-air. The others picked up their drinks the moment the dog landed. It shook the diner, the window panels and dishes rattled. The dog pranced around the room in delight, carrying its new toy. "Who's a good boy? You're a good boy!" Richie cooed.

The little waitress smiled sweetly at Gamora, "Are you alright?"

Gamora forced herself to relax, her hands twisting themselves into a nervous knot. "I'm, I'm alright."

"Peanut is a real sweetheart. Never hurt a fly." She nodded at the dog, misunderstanding why Gamora was startled. The little waitress had the same accent as Richie, but her pronunciation was worse. "Can I get you something?"

"I need a place to stay for the night," Gamora said.

Her expression softens, "you have to talk to Miss Rider about that. I can get you something to drink while you wait." Her eyes linger on the bandages on Gamoras knuckles. She tugs her sleeves down so they cover her hands. "On the house."

"I want something to drink Cammi!" Richie shouted.

"Get it yourself, butthead!" She shouted back. Gamora sits down at the table closest to the door. The little waitress pours her a mug of something hot and sweet smelling. "My names Cammi, it's short for Camdecences."

"Candescence is spelled with an N," Richie pushed Peanut away as the dog tried to lick his face. "That would make you Canni."

Cammi ignored him, "what's your name?"

"I don't have one," Gamora sipped her drink leisurely. It was as thick as syrup, it tasted of chocolate and spice.

"Everyone has a name," Cammi insisted.

"I've been calling her Leia" Richie piped up, "because of the buns."

Cammi tilted her head to the side, her green earrings caught the light. "I don't see it. I think she looks like Sailor Moon."

"You're the only one who knows who Sailor Moon is." Richie sounded rather annoyed with her.

Cammi shrugs, "it's not my fault you have a bad taste in reading material."

Gamora felt left out and got defensive, "I don't know who any of these people are."

Richie sat down next to Gamora, he took the kettle from Cammi to pour himself a drink. "Leia is a character from a popular story on our planet. She's this awesome rebel, space princess. At the start of the movie she's kidnapped by Darth Vader,"

"He's a bag of dicks," Cammi interjected.

"Language please, Cammille." The blonde woman, probably Miss Rider, chided her from the kitchen.

Despite better judgment, Cammi corrected to, "he's a bag of penis'."

Miss Rider lowered her glasses to glare at Cammi with cloudy eyes. "Dishes, now." Cammi stepped on Richie's foot when he sniggered at her. She sulked as she walked back into the kitchen.

"You know," Richie stirred cream into his drink. The foaming liquid turned a soft pink. "I own all the movies, we could watch them sometime."

"I think I'd like that," Gamora said mostly to be polite.

Once the lunch rush died down, Miss Rider left Cammi in charge of the kitchen. Richie pulled out a chair for her. "Cammille tells me you need a place to stay." Miss Rider says.

"Yes, how much for one night?" Gamora asks, pulling out her transmitter.

Miss Riders face twitched into a frown. "Oh, my dear, I don't charge children."

Gamora crossed her arms. "At least let me help out in the diner, then. I won't stay here for free."

"You already paid for our water," Richie pointed out. His mother gave him an inquiring look. "They raised the price of water again. I didn't have enough units." He sounded like he was confessing to something horrible.

Miss Rider clicks her tongue in disapproval and slides a key across the table. It's the old kind. Gamora runs her thumb along the jagged side, the cheap copper feels cool in her hands. She's never seen one like it. Miss Rider sighs, "I suppose we could use the extra help around here. You can assist me in the kitchen." She touched Gamora's shoulder lightly as she stood up. Richie held his breath hoping his mother would forget he was there. He felt doing chores was a great burden for someone his age. Unfortunately, she had not forgotten about him, "Richard could you cover Cammi's shift while she's busy?"

Richie groaned and because he knew his mother wasn't really asking him, he said, "yeah okay."

Gamora spent the rest of the afternoon playing assistant to Miss Rider. It mostly involved retrieving utensils and identifying the correct ingredients. Miss Rider was something else entirely in the kitchen, she skilled with a knife and a whisk. She was always cooking three different things at once, and it was hard to keep up with her pace. Gamora got the feeling that she was slowing her down more than she was helping her. There were two other people working in the kitchen and Cammi was up to her elbows in dishes. The smell of cinnamon was so strong, Gamora could practically taste it. Miss Rider held up two different cans, "Tomatoes on your left and soup stock on your right." Gamora gestured with the potato peeler.

"Thank you, dear." Miss Rider hummed opening the can of soup stock.

"Are you blind?" She asked with the lack of social grace that all children seemed to possess.

Miss Rider chuckled softly at the pot of soup, "mostly."

"She's got a third eye in the back of her head," Cammi grumbled as she put the clean dishes away. Gamora squinted at Miss Rider but couldn't make out her third eye. She gave up after a while and returned to peeling the reconstituted potatoes.

"And...we're done!" Richie flipped off the open sign, Cammi threw her hands in the air and cheered.

The soft-spoken teenager helped Cammi out of her apron, "Are you taking in more street kids, ma'am?" He smiles shyly at Miss Rider.

"Well, someone ought to." She said as she locked the front door. It took Gamora a moment to realize they were talking about her.

Richie held the door open as they moved into the back room, and then up the stairs. Gamora found the room number that matched her key. She glanced down the hallway at Cammi and copied her. Gamora shoved the key in the lock and turned it until it clicked, but she couldn't get the key out. Someone touched her shoulder, Gamora jumped. She wanted to punch Richie for startling her. "You need some help with that? It's an old door, the lock gets stuck sometimes." She waved a hand at the lock. He jiggled the key until it came loose. "Here."

"Thank you," Gamora took the key from Richie.

"So, did you want to watch the movie tonight?"

"The what?" Gamora was struggling to find the motion sensors on the door. They should have been on top of the doorframe. She waved her hand in front of the lock trying to get the door to slide open. Richie coughed to cover his laughter. He turned the lock and pushed the door inward. Gamora scowled at the door when it swung open, that was just… wrong.

"It's an old door," Richie reiterated gently. Gamora nodded sagely and tossed her duffel bag onto the floor. Richie stood in the doorway, "anyway, the movie about Princess Leia? If you're leaving tomorrow we should watch them tonight."

"Oh right." A small part of Gamora whispered for her to shut the door and crawl into bed. Richie would understand that Gamora was tired. More than that, she was exhausted. She was terrified that Yondu would find her, and if she stopped moving for even a moment she would feel the weight of being separated from her mother. That was a terrible weight to carry. But she wanted to be Richie's friend, so instead, she said "sure."

His face light up, he bounced on his heels, "Awesome! Okay, I'll be right back!" Richie made finger guns at her before taking off down the hallway. Gamora exhaled slowly. She left the door open and leaned against a wall. She slid down, down, down until she was sitting on the floor. Her knees were pulled against her chest. There were so many bad feelings that she couldn't feel anything at all. She heard Cammi and Richie talking as they approached Gamora's room. She didn't recognize the language but her translator chip did."...wanna startle her."

"Peanut's a sweetheart!" Richie insisted in defense of his dog.

"He's a sweetheart with three sets of teeth and an exoskeleton," Cammi said. There was a pause, she could hear a cart rolling across the metal flooring. "Don't give me that look. She's… going through something right now."

"How do you know?"

"Well, she's... I was-I am..." Cammi struggles to find the right words. "I just do, okay? Peanut's sleeping in Robbie's room tonight." A door opens and then shuts. The cart moves closer to Gamora's room.

"Sleepover!" Cammi yelled in standard pushing a small laundry cart into the room. It's filled with blankets and pillows. Richie was carrying a large black box with lots of wires. He sets it down in the middle of the floor. Cammi pulls the mattress off the bed frame and flips it onto its side.

"What are you doing?" Gamora frowned, her poor bed.

"I'm building a pillow fort!" Cammi announced. She strung up the blankets into a giant tent over the mattress. She threw the pillows and remaining blankets onto the mattress, before stepping back to admire her handiwork. Cammi grinned at Gamora, "help me with the lights?" Gamora pulled a box out from the laundry cart. There were a collection of rocks that gave off a faint glow. They were light enough to float in the station's low gravity. Gamora inspected a green one curiously. "Pretty bitchin' right?" Cammi set out the stones around the pillow fort. "Too bad they're all duds."

"Duds?" Gamora asked flopping onto the mattress.

"Cammi thought they were magic." Richie snickered pointing at his head and drawing a circle with his finger. He mouthed the word "crazy."

Cammi hit him in the face with a pillow. "Magic is real! I just haven't found it yet." She put her hands on her hips. "I'm not crazy."

Gamora turned the stone over in her hands. "I believe you."

"Ha!" Cammi shouted triumphantly at Richie, who ignored them. She sat down next to Gamora. "Is the VHS player ready yet?"

"I think so." He managed to connect his transmitter to the black box and aimed the projection at the wall. He turned off the lights but didn't join them on the pillow fort. Cammi's jewelry and all the little rocks glowed intensely. "Are you afraid of dogs?" He blurted out.

Gamora rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows. "Not really."

"But you looked scared when Peanut jumped earlier." Cammi pointed out with concern.

"Oh, it wasn't the dog that freaked me out." Gamora fidgeted with the green stone. "It's um, whistling, I know its weird," She admitted softly.

"It's not weird," Cammi reassured her. The same moment Richie said, "it isn't weird." Richie left the room to get his dog.

Cammi laid down on her side to look at Gamora. "The sound of a glass breaking freaks me out. My mother would throw her empties at the wall, instead of my head, when she was being affectionate." She chuckled darkly, brushing Gamora's bangs out of her eyes.

"When Yondu was being affectionate he would threaten to throw me out an airlock." Gamora smiled despite her morose tone.

"My mother threatened to kill me once, too!" Cammi said.

They both giggled. It made Gamora feel a little better. She asked, "so where's your mother now?"

"She's dead." Cammi sighed deeply, mustering up her courage to say what she needed to say. "Actually Thanos invaded our planet and she died protecting me from them. I… I don't know why she did that. I know I should miss her or feel sad, but," her soft brown eyes caught Gamora's gaze. She couldn't help but think how pretty they were. "I only feel lucky they killed her instead of me. I think… I think I might be a bad person."

Gamora let go of the green rock and watch it float up. It joined the other glowing rocks at the top of their pillow fort. They clustered together like colorful little stars. "Then be better."

Cammi looked like she wanted to say something else, but stopped when Richie returned with Peanut. The large dog licked Cammi's face until she giggles and pushed him away. Richie settled onto the mattress next to Gamora. "Ready to start the movie?"

"Yep!" Cammi reply was muffled, her face was pressed into Peanuts stomach.

Richie started the movie but he kept talking over it to explain things to Gamora. Until Cammi got so annoyed she tried to smother him with a pillow. Gamora got involved and they roughhoused until they wore themselves out. Cammi was declared the champion of pillow fights. She brought something called nail polish and Gamora let Cammi paint her nails a pretty pink color. She talked Richie into painting his nails too. After they started the second movie, Peanut found the snacks Gamora was keeping in her duffel bag. What Peanut didn't wolf down, Cammi ate. Gamora mourned the loss of her food stash, and Richie promised they'd replace all of her "nightmare Twinkies" with something better. He fell asleep halfway through the third movie. He was curled up with Peanut, the dog was hogging all the blankets. Gamora had to stop Cammi from drawing on Richie's forehead. She insisted that it was a tradition. Gamora was the last to fall asleep, she quietly turned off the movie. She was snuggled up between Richie and Cammi, her hand was resting on Gamora's waist. She let her eyes drift closed and for the first time in a while, Gamora felt safe.


	6. Carry On My Wayward Son

Gamora folded her clothes neatly and put them back into her duffel bag. The plan was simple enough, she would break into those abandoned spacecrafts at the docks and steal whatever air they had left. From there, she could get to the jump point and get out of this solar system. Downstairs, Richie was keeping his little brother entertained by playing the piano. She found it odd that Earthlings had music that wasn't tied to ritual or ceremony. Cammi drifted between tables, pretending to be busy. The restaurant was mostly empty. Peanut perked up as Gamora walked into the kitchen. Cammi noticed her duffel bag and set the kettle down on the counter. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah," Gamora confirmed, she gave the old metal key back to Miss Rider. Cammi brought Gamora a wrapped lunchbox from the fridge. "What's this?" Gamora picked up the lunchbox inspecting it.

"Something for the road. I won't have you leaving hungry," Miss Rider said.

Gamora smiled and tucked it into her duffel bag, "thank you."

Cammi followed Gamora to the door. "Do you know where you're going?" She asked, "I could take you to the docks."

Gamora chewed her lower lip, she would probably get lost if she went by herself. She had wasted enough time here, already. "I'd appreciate that."

"Be back before the lunch rush, okay?" Miss Rider called after Cammi.

"Yeah, fine!" Cammi sighed melodramatically.

"Goodbye, Richie!"

Richie glanced over his shoulder at Gamora, "bye strange girl."

His younger brother, Robbie turned to look in their direction. He had the same cloudy eyes as his mother. He waved one small, chubby hand, "bye, bye!"

Gamora waved back, "bye, Robbie!" Cammi called out. Cammi held the door for Gamora, she felt almost sad to leave.

She let Cammi set the pace as they walked. The city hummed with activity. They strolled through the market and Cammi chattered on about some telekinetic Mutant girl, named Matilda. Gamora thought it might have been from a book or something. She didn't understand most of what Cammi said, but that was okay. The majority of any relationship was pretending to be interested in things your friends cared about. Cammi occasionally paused to wave at people on the streets. Gamora thought she recognized a couple of them from the diner. "Who was that?" She gestured to the burly woman chatting up the mother of three.

Cammi glanced back at the couple, "Those are the Ackbery's, they're regulars." She waved and smiled at the people next to them, "and those are the Nathukick brothers."

"Is everyone a regular?" Gamora said.

"Nah, not everybody," Cammi giggled, " Let's see I don't know, uh, " she searched the crowd for an example. "Oh, I don't know them. Might be from the lower floors." Gamora glanced at where Cammi was pointing and froze. Kraglin was leaning against the counter talking to one of the locals, Yondu stood to his left watching the crowd. A chill ran up her spine. Kraglin words echoed through her mind, You really think that you can outrun us? That we won't find you? She felt just as terrified and utterly alone as the day he said it. She needed more time. Gamora grabbed Cammi's arm and picked up the pace. She needed to get off this tin can, right the hell now.

"You need to go home," Gamora muttered.

"Wait, what? Why?" Cammi matched her tone.

Gamora kept glancing over her shoulder. She wouldn't feel safe until she put some distance between herself and Yondu. "It's dangerous." Cammi rolled her eyes at Gamora. She glanced over her shoulder. The local woman pointed at Gamora, Kraglin looked directly at them. "Crap." She shoved Cammi into the crowd and ran.

"Hey!" Cammi yelped, the men in red jackets raced past her. People scrambled to get out of their way. Gamora was running for the docks. Cammi wasn't about to go home when things are just getting exciting. She took a shortcut through the alleyways, she'd meet up with them at the next intersection.

Gamora abruptly turned the corner and collided with Horuz. She stumbles backward and falls. "Lookie what I caught here," he sneered down at her. Horuz grabs her forearm hauling her to her feet. With the rush of fear came adrenaline, Gamora stomped on his foot. Horuz grimaced and yanked her forward, "c'mon kid."

Horuz didn't notice Cammi move behind them. She picked up a large broom. "Cammi?"

"What's a Cam-" She hit Horuz over the head with the metal broomstick. He spun to look at Cammi, "the fuck?"

"Let her go, you cock sucking horse fucker!" Cammi growled. Horuz looked stunned to have a six-year-old girl cursing at him. Gamora took the chance to lodge her elbow firmly into his gut. His grip loosened enough for her to break free. Horuz stumbled backward, and Cammi tripped him. He fell into the food display. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Gamora punched Cammi lightly in the arm, "Why didn't you go home? It's dangerous, you could die!"

Cammi chuckled and spun the broom like a staff. "To die will be an awfully great adventure."

Gamora narrowed her eyes, "Whoever you're quoting must be a moron too."

"Gamora!" Yondu was stalking towards them.

"We should go." Cammi dropped the broomstick letting it clatter to the ground. She grabbed Gamora's hand and lead them towards the docks.

"She's heading for the elevators!" Kraglin called out. The second mate cut them off at the end of the street. Kraglin and Yondu were closing in on them fast. They were running out of places to go.

Gamora felt her throat tighten, she was suddenly gasping for breath. They were going to capture her again. They'd make her go back to that ship. Yondu was going to be so angry with her. "Quick, up here!" Cammi climbed over the retaining wall and into one of the island gardens. She held out her hand, "they can't get us up here." She was breathless but grinning from ear to ear. Gamora grabbed her hand, and she helped her over the retaining wall. They climbed up the plastic tree in the center of the island garden.

The ravagers stopped at the retaining wall. Yondu glared up at Gamora. "Get your ass down here, little girl!"

"No thanks, I'm good," Gamora shouted down at them.

Yondu snarled, "I ain't playing games wit' you girly! Get down!"

Gamora said in a stern, quiet voice, "I said, no."

"Damn it, Gamora!" He said, "if you ain't coming down, I'll come up!"

Cammi laughed at him, "I'd love to see you try, old man!" She plucked a walnut off a branch and hurled it at Yondu. It bounced harmlessly off his shoulder.

That got a smile out of Gamora, "yeah! We'll throw walnuts at you!"

Yondu kicked the retaining wall, and it shook the whole garden. Hundreds of walnuts shook loose from the tree and rained down on the ravagers. "You ungrateful little shit! I'm trying to protect you!" He shouted in frustration. His outburst caught the attention of the locals. They whispered amongst themselves, watching with concern.

"Protecting me?" Gamora scoffed and stood up on the branch. "You kidnapped me!" She threw a walnut at him, it bounced off his chest. "You yelled at me and you hit me!" Two walnuts hit his shoulder. "I'm never going to stop trying to get away from you, Yondu!" He caught the last walnut before it hit him. He crushed it into a fine powder in his fist.

Cammi turned to Gamora, her eyes wide, "that Yondu?" Gamora nodded solemnly in response. Cammi shot to her feet, "we'll be leaving now." The playful, mocking tone was replaced by something more serious.

Horuz and Kraglin exchanged confused glances, "what?" And then Cammi let out a blood-curdling scream.

She hid her face in the crook of her elbow, large wet tears dripped down her face. The water droplets floated down in the low gravity. "Please, don't hurt me! Help, someone, help me!"

"What are you doing to those girls?" A woman shouted at them. Her hand was dangerously close to the blaster in her shoulder rig. Someone else shouted, "isn't that Cammi? Someone call Rider!" The crowd was pushing closer to the ravagers. Kraglin, Horuz, and Gamora looked dumbstruck. None of them had a clue about how to react to the growing mob. Yondu's mohawk glowed a violent red. It reminded Cammi of an exotic fish, showing off bright colors to ward off predators. He was probably poison to the bone too, Cammi mused. Yondu whistled and it felt as loud as a gunshot. Everyone reacted at once.

Gamora flinched away from Yondu. The locals who didn't draw their blasters ran for cover. The ravagers drew their blasters a fraction of a second later. The arrow shot out of its holster leaving a trail of red light. A hulking blurry mass of exoskeleton appeared out of nowhere. Its toothy maw snatched the arrow out of the air. The dog landed with a loud, thump.

Gamora and the ravagers stare slack-jawed at the dog. Peanut had single-handedly disarmed Yondu. Cammi burst into a fit of laughter, she nearly fell out of the tree. Peanut pranced around happily with his new prize. Gamora spotted Richie and Miss Rider watching at the edge of the crowd. Yondu whistled again and Peanuts head snapped around to look at Richie for a command. The arrow rattled between Peanuts teeth. It dragged Peanut forward and the dog tugged back on the arrow playfully. It was a game of tug-of-war. "Well, that's a first, " Kraglin muttered, his attention split between the blasters being shoved in his face and the dog.

Since violence had failed, Yondu was forced to find another way out of the standoff. "This is all a misunderstanding, I'm looking after that girl."

The woman with the shoulder rig shouted up to the girls without looking away from Yondu. "Do you ladies know these men?"

"No, Mrs. Ackbery," Cammi shouted the same moment Gamora mumbled, "I've never seen them before in my life."

"They're lying," Yondu snapped. "Gamora ran away from home, her poor mother is sick with worry."

Gamora's lower lip trembles when her mother is mentioned. "You kidnapped me! Don't talk about my mama!" She threw another walnut at him but missed terribly.

Ackbery pointed her blaster at Yondu instead of Kraglin. "You're outnumbered, if you leave now nobody has to die."

Yondu narrowed his eyes, "I've survived worse odds." The mob pushed the ravagers back, away from the garden.

Once it was safe, Miss Rider and Richie emerged from the crowd. Richie climbed into the garden and called up to them. "Hey, are you guys alright!?" Cammi slid down the tree, Gamora climbed down after her. Miss Riders clothes struck Gamora as odd, she wore a rough bomber jacket over jeans and a T-shirt instead of her usual apron and dress.

"We're okay!" Cammi replied chipperly, she hugged Richie briefly. "What are doing here, doofus?"

Richie chuckled, "what a weird way to say: thanks for saving me, Richie, whatever would I do without you?"

Cammi shoved him, "I saved myself! You didn't even do anything."

"I brought Peanut!" He pointed to the dog.

Yondu lurched forward, and the locals aimed their blasters at him. They kept him from getting close to Gamora. "Get the hell away from them! They're a bounty hunter!"

"We need to leave. These men are dangerous," Miss Rider urged them. Richie climbed down first and then helped Cammi down. He offered Gamora his hand.

Yondu shoved one of the locals out of the way, "Gamora," someone threw a punch but Yondu easily stepped out of the way. "You need to trust me! You don't understand the danger you're in!"

Gamora backed away from Yondu. She had just met Cammi and the Riders, but she already felt safer with them. She took Richie's hand. "What have you done to deserve my trust?" She asked Yondu in a quiet voice. Gamora didn't have anything left to say to him. "I just want to go home."

Gamora heard Yondu call after her as a brawl broke out, but she didn't turn back. Her hands are shaking. The rush of adrenaline felt like electricity, she needed to move. Gamora ran from the crowds. She ran until her chest ached and her legs hurt. When she stopped running she didn't know where she was. She nearly collapsed next to a mailbox. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill over. Gamora cursed herself for crying. She was so tired of feeling this way.

~~•˖✧•✯•✧˖•~~

"Gamora, " Yondu faltered, as he watched the kids retreat. The bounty hunter glanced back at him and smiled. Rage clouded his thoughts. He kicked someone's knee inward. There was a satisfying snap of bone. His fist clipped some else's jaw, as he sidestepped another blow from his left. He felt the sharp familiar pain of a blaster wound in his chest. The sound of a blaster going off in an enclosed space left his ears ringing. The ravager jackets are blaster proof. It took the brunt of the damage but getting shot could break bones and leave minor burns. The city street erupted into gunfire in mere seconds. Kraglin slammed into Yondu pushing him out of the line of fire. They hid in a nearby alleyway. Horuz and the second mate, leaned around the wall to take shots at the enemy.

Yondu leaned against the wall and tried to calm down. Those idiot kids couldn't protect Gamora from real danger. If the bounty hunters got their hands on Gamora, they'd sell her off to the Badoons battlegrounds, the Kree's farms, or worse, they could deliver Gamora to her father. He couldn't let Ego win. Yondu wanted to punch something, or scream, probably both. "I'm out," Horuz shouted, ejecting the empty clip from his blaster. Yondu caught it and tossed Horuz a full one. The task of refilling the empty clip kept his mind steady. He needed to kill that bitch ass bounty hunter before they killed Gamora. Another dead child on his hands. Fuck, none of this was his fault.

Horuz a blast hit his shoulder. The force threw him back against the wall. There was a soft pop as his shoulder dislocated. "What the hell is so important about one kid?" He groans through gritted teeth as he tries to pop the bone back in place.

"It's not about the pup, it's about the principle of the thing. Little shit stole my ship." Yondu grumbled, "and after everything I've done for her." How could she trust that fucking bounty hunter more than him? Yondu's mohawk unconsciously flared up.

"You mean, to her," Kraglin said absently. He was busy loading rounds into another magazine. He thought Yondu looked confused and clarified, "After everything you've done to her, she's still not afraid of you." Yondu huffed and glared at nothing. Gamora couldn't trust him because he terrified her. It seemed obvious in retrospect, and that pissed him off more.

Horuz shot off five rounds but only two of them hit. "I told you keeping her was a mistake. This never would have happened if we had just dropped her off and got paid."

Yondu punched the wall. The sandstone exterior crumbled away easily, creating a small cloud of dust. "Ya dunno shit 'bout shit! Just shut the fuck up and do your job!"

"Captain, you pay me to," Horuz stopped talking when Yondu outright growled at him.

Kraglin figured now was a good point to step in, "stop bitching Horuz. Nobody even remembers the second mate's name do you see him whining?"

The second mate fired off three rounds, two found their mark. Blood and brain matter splattered across the city street. He dropped the empty magazine out of his blaster as Kraglin tossed him a full one."That's not a fair comparison! He's not supposed to talk," Horuz said.

"I wish you wouldn't talk either," Kraglin replied. Yondu rolled his eyes at them. The second mate fired off two more rounds, he didn't miss. Horuz shoots sporadically, rarely hitting what he was aiming at. Several stray blasts hit the side of the buildings outfitted with sandstone. It kicks up massive amounts of dust making it difficult to see the enemy. "What's the plan, Cap?" Kraglin asked.

"Gimme this," Yondu yanks the blaster out of Horuz's hands. He ejects the empty clip and replaces it with the full one. It had been a while since he held a blaster. The weight was comfortable, familiar. He aimed the blaster at the opposite wall.

"What are you," That's all Horuz gets to say before Yondu empties the clip into the sandstone. It creates a huge rolling dust cloud that covers the city street. They can't see three feet in front of them. Yondu presses a finger to his lips and waves for them to follow. The ravagers creep out of the alleyway, and down the street.

By the time the dust has settled the ravagers are already down the street moving with the crowds. They're covered in a thick layer of grime. Kraglin coughs and spits. Horuz shakes the sand from his hair like a dog. The locals keep their distance from the ravagers as they exchanging hushed words about them. They get dirty looks and people hold their children a little closer as they passed. Word travels fast on a small station. "Captain, the plan?" Kraglin prompted him for a second time.

"Kill that bitch bounty hunter and bring Gamora back," Yondu growled. He was going to kill that damn scorpion-dog that stole his arrow too.

 

~~•˖✧•✯•✧˖•~~

Peanut caught up to Gamora first, the giant dog dropped the arrow at her feet. He licked the tears off her face. She smiled and patted his head affectionately, "Thanks, boy." Cammi, Richie, and his mother found Peanut laying in the street so Gamora could rub his belly. Gamora's eyes are puffy and her face is flushed a soft blue-grey.

Miss Rider knelt down next to Gamora, "are you alright?" Gamora nodded without looking up at her. "You have been very brave today, I am so proud of you." Gamora leaned her weight into Miss Rider, and she rubbed warmth back into Gamora's shoulders. "We can return to the diner. You are welcome to stay as long as you need," She suggested politely.

"No, I wanna go home," Gamora repeated herself. "Can you walk with me to the docks? I have a ship there."

Miss Rider nodded and stood up, "whatever you want, dear."

Gamora stood up and Richie glued himself to her side. The sent cinnamon and butterscotch lingered on his clothes after too many hours spent working in the diner. Gamora thought humans were warm and soft. Richie whistled and gave Peanut the command to follow. Gamora flinched, immediately looking around for any sign of Yondu before she realized it was only Richie. "Oh, sorry," He said, "I forgot."

"It's okay," Gamora said numbly.

Peanut picked up the arrow in his mouth and trotted alongside them. The dog leaned against Miss Rider, guiding her as they walked. "How did you know crying like that would work, back there?" Gamora asked Cammi as they reached the elevator.

She laughed like Gamora had said something funny. "I'm a cute little girl, people want to help me."

Richie snorted, "I dunno about cute, but you're definitely little." Cammi shoved him, and he shoved her back.

"Richie behave," Miss Rider chided him softly.

Richie gave his mother an odd look, "okay." They stepped onto the elevator, Cammi held onto the support bar as it lurched up.

Gamora glared at the ground. Nobody had ever shown her any empathy when food was scarce. When her mother got sick, nobody cared. "If I had cried like that on the Eclector all I would have got was smacked, " she grumbled bitterly. Miss Rider glared at nothing and set her jaw. The elevator door opened and they stepped out onto the nicer part of town, Miss Rider and Peanut took the lead.

Cammi stares off into space as if deep in thought. "Well, crying doesn't work on bad guys, but for every Yondu in the galaxy, there's someone like Miss Rider too. They want to help and they will if you let them." She plucked a flower from a nearby garden and tucked it into Gamora's hair. "You're adorable. You should use it."

Gamora flushed and touched the flower in her hair. "It's plastic." She didn't know why she was surprised.

"Like this shithole could afford real flowers, " Cammi scoffed.

"Cammi!" Richie squeaked glancing nervously at his mother. To his surprise, Gamora and Miss Rider both chuckled. When they reached the docks, The woman at the security center buzzed them through decontamination. There were two new ships docked on the flight deck. Gamora immediately recognized the Scarab, it was part of Yondu's fleet of ships. She looked at the abandoned cargo ships and felt nervous. She didn't know how the others would react to her stealing.

"Hey, ma!" Richie picked up a rock. His mother turned to look at him, as Richie hurled the rock at her head.

"Richie!" Cammi shrieked in alarm.

Miss Rider easily caught the stone before it hit her. Richie glared at the woman, "you are not my mother."

The woman who was not Miss Rider sighed. Her real voice was low and smooth, there was something distinctly inhuman about it. "What gave it away?"

Cammi and Gamora slowly backed away from the woman. "My ma hates it when Cammi swears, and she never ever calls me Richie." He scowled at them, "who are you, really?"

When the woman blinks her inner set of eyelids, her eyes turn gold with narrow pupils. Her hair grew longer and turned a dark brown, hiding her ears. Her skin cracked and flaked away revealing scaly forest green skin beneath. "You can call me Jazinda." Her hand went to her hip, and everyone jumped. Gamora tensed, ready to run if she drew her weapon.

Richie whistled, "settle down!" Peanut dropped the arrow and snarled at Jazinda.

"Easy, " Jazinda held up her hands, palms out, towards the dog. "Just reaching for my transmitter. If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it already."

Gamora narrowed her eyes, "I've heard that line before."

Jazinda opened an app on her transmitter as she talked. "Your father is willing to pay a lot of money to whoever kills your kidnappers. There's a nice little bonus for bringing you home too." She slid the transmitter across the flight deck to Gamora.

There is a fixed price for returning Gamora, but they were crowdfunding Yondu's execution. The number kept going up. Yondu must have a lot of enemies. Gamora kicked the transmitter back to Jazinda. "How did you find me?"

Jazinda's mouth quirked into a half smile. "I monitor the Nova's local APB channel." She picked up the transmitter and switched apps. Jazinda opened security footage of Gamora stealing the air canister from the local store. "Someone's been misbehaving."

Gamora slapped her forehead with her palm and groaned. Stupid, of course, the store had security cameras! She was so concerned with escaping she overlooked the small details, again. "You robbed Mr. Q'ogi?!" Richie yelled at her.

Gamora folded her arms across her chest defensively. "That guy was a jerk, and price gouging is illegal! It's basically stealing." Nevermind, that Gamora didn't know the store clerk was price gouging when she stole from him.

"That doesn't make stealing from him okay!" Richie shouted back, "he runs a small business! That's how he supports his family!"

Her eyebrow twitched into a scowl, "well, I'm trying to get back to mine!"

Peanut noticed that someone was approaching before anyone else did. He moved to guard Richie. Jazinda placed a careful hand on Gamora's shoulder, "I'm offering to take you back home to them."

Gamora knew Jazinda meant well, but she was still feeling angry and defensive, "No! My home is with my mama on Polemachus! I don't have a father!"

Peanut let out a low growl, Richie jerked to look around, "Something is wrong."

Jazinda shoved Gamora towards the end of the flight deck. "You need to leave," she ordered. Cammi grabbed Gamora by the hand and they ran. Peanut and Richie weren't far behind them. They hunkered down behind the old water hauler, As Yondu and his men walked onto the flight deck. Kraglin was on his left and the second mate stood at his right. They both had their blasters drawn and lowered at their sides, Horuz stood in the back. Yondu noticed the arrow laying on the ground, but doesn't move to holster it. He gives the flight deck a once over, "Where's the pup?"

"Somewhere safe, where you won't find her," Jazinda said calmly. She was standing in front of her ship, her hands tucked in her pockets.

Yondu studied Jazinda's clothes, thinking out loud he said, "you're the same bounty hunter from before. You're a long way from home, Skrull."

"And somebody cut off your fin, poor little Centaurian." Jazinda cooed at him, tauntingly, "if we're done pointing out the obvious, care to dance, boys?" The ravagers leveled their blasters at Jazinda. In the same second, she pressed a button on her keys.

The kids jumped as the flight deck became a battleground. Cammi covered her ears trying to suppress the sound of gunfire. The twin machine guns mounted on the front of Jazinda's ship went off. Yondu and Kraglin hit the deck. Horuz takes cover behind the wall that separates the flight deck from the rest of the docks. A spray of bullets hit the wall. Kraglin and the second mate managed to get off four rounds. Three rounds scorched the hull of her ship. The fourth clipped Jazinda's bicep. She's thrown backward against her ship and falls off the edge of the flight deck. A bullet went clean through the second mate's skull. He dropped like a rag doll. His head lulled to the side, he's looking directly at Gamora but the second mate isn't seeing anything anymore.

Gamora scrambled back, running into Richie. "She just killed that man! She killed him!" Even yelling Richie can barely hear her, but he can read the terror on her face just fine.

In the next second, Jazinda caught the edge of the landing gear with her good arm. It's a long drop to the next level of the city. She wouldn't survive the fall. Yondu rolled onto his back and whistled. The arrow shot off towards the machine guns but started to curve off to the left. It shattered the Anilius' windshield. Broken glass was thrown across the flight deck. Horuz cringed because he knew he'd be the one to fix it, "You missed!" Yondu spat a curse, how the fuck did he miss? He tried to call the arrow back, but it swerved to the left again and nearly hit Horuz, "Watch it!"

"We need to take out those machine guns," Kraglin said, taking shots at the ship.

"I know!" Yondu yelled in frustration, "I'm gonna kill that damn dog!" The dog must have bent the arrow. It couldn't fly in a straight line.

Jazinda gritted her teeth and swung herself across the bottom of her ship to the lower hatch. The wound in her arm burned something fierce. The body didn't know how else to process that much pain. She pulled herself into the ship and moved to the gunner's station.

The machine guns suddenly stopped. The silence was deafening, Yondu and Kraglin exchanged glances. They watched the machine gun cautiously as they slowly get off the ground. There was a loud mechanical, as the machine guns are reloaded and switched to manual. "Go. Go, go, go!" Kraglin shouted as he ran to where Horuz is taking cover. It takes Yondu three tries to hit the metal joint holding the left machine gun to the ship. The joint snaps in half. It slides off the ship and landed on the flight deck. Jazinda watched them through a screen. The right machine gun spits out a spray of bullets in Yondus direction. He's forced to retreat behind the steel wall with Kraglin and Horuz. The steel wall was already dented, it wouldn't last forever.

"Horuz, it's a 6th gen Xandarian racing ship. Where's the core located?" Horuz thought for a moment and then did his best to describe the layout of the ship.

Horuz folded his arms, "are you sure this a good idea? You're shooting blind, and if you miss even once it could give away the plan." Not to mention, the arrow couldn't fly in a straight line. Yondu knew it was a risky plan. The machine gun stopped shooting. Something shrieked and exploded against the wall. It shook the entire station.

"Missiles," Kraglin said, "she's shooting missiles at us!"

Yondu looked Horuz in the eye, "I won't miss." He whistled. There was a tense moment, the ravagers held their breath.

Jazinda's ship exploded in a fireball of death and destruction. Yondu hadn't considered that taking out Jazinda meant damaging his own ships, or that it would set all of the air in the docking bay on fire. Anilius was thrown across the docks, slamming into the abandoned water hauler before skidding across the flight deck. The Scarab caught the worst of the shrapnel. It cut through the hull like tissue paper. It skewered the ship's core and set off a second explosion. Metal shrapnel took out the upper half of the wall. When Yondu's ears stopped ringing he could hear the soft roar of the air filtration system. It was quickly trying to replenish the air supply. Every breath made his chest ache, and he was light-headed. His skin felt hot, cancer, undoubtedly. He coughed, "everyone still alive?"

Horuz groaned in response. Kraglin was picking metal out of his skin, "wish I wasn't." Yondu slowly stood up and looked around. The Anilius was totaled, and there was nothing left of the Scarab. Horuz staggered over to the Anilius to asses the damage. Kraglin was looking at the bloody smear of ground meat that used to be the second mate. There wasn't enough left for a funeral. He felt guilty that he didn't feel anything looking at his corpse. He worked with the guy for years, lived with him, and Kraglin couldn't even remember his name. There was no sign of Jazinda."Nobody could have survived this."

"Then where's her damn body?" Yondu growled before calling the arrow back to his holster. It was still smoldering. "Skrulls are damn cockroaches," Jazinda smirked from her hiding spot on top of the water hauler. Her sniper rifle rested in her lap. One of the pros of having a Xandarian ship is that there is a safety feature built into the core. It gives her just enough time to grab her emergency bag and get out. Jazinda duct taped gauze over the gash in her stomach. It was best if her organs stayed inside her body. She heard Yondu barking orders, "Horuz, I want that ship fixed yesterday. Kraglin, you're with me."

Kraglin and Yondu stepped inside the abandoned water hauler. He knew Gamora had to be hiding in there. He would drag her out by her pigtails if he had to. The moment the main airlock door closed, the kids collectively breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you all okay?" Richie asked them.

Jazinda jumped off the water hauler, landing silently behind the kids. She grabbed Gamora by the collar, "don't scream." Gamora froze, her muscles tensed. Cammi and Richie were just as startled, Peanut let out a low growl in warning. "Don't make me kill your dog," Jazinda said calmly. Richie gave him a command and Peanut moved to his side. "Come on," Jazinda walked Gamora towards the Anilius. She shouldered her rifle and aimed it at Horuz. "Hey, shitbag, drop your weapon!" Jazinda called out to him.

Horuz slowly pulled out his blaster and slid it across the flight deck. "How are you still alive? Who are you?"

"A cockroach," Jazinda snarled, "how long will it take you to fix the ship?"

Horuz glanced nervously at the water hauler. "She's totaled. Three hours at least, without help."

Jazinda let go of Gamora and dropped her rifle to her side. Horuz seemed genuinely surprised when she asked, "how can we help?"

"I don't like being manhandled," Gamora grumbled while straightening her outfit. Horuz slowly moved his hand into his jacket pocket and opened one of the local channels on his transmitter. "Why should I help you?" Gamora snapped.

Yondu was surprised to hear her voice echo through the abandoned water hauler. It took him a moment to realize it was coming from his transmitter. That sneaky little bitch, Gamora was back outside with Horuz.

Jazinda took a deep breath, "nobody can go anywhere until the ship is repaired. If you help we can get this done faster."

Gamora sat down on the flight deck, huddled in a ball. She said in a tight voice, "I won't help until I know nobody's going to kidnap me. I wanna go home."

Jazinda shrugged, "I told you I would take you back to-"

"I don't have a father." Gamora cut her off curtly.

"Fine! Suit yourself, if you want to die of dehydration on this tin can be my guest." Jazinda snapped at her, "I'm getting the hell out of here."

Cammi and Richie sat down near Gamora, while Jazinda and Horuz repaired the hull. Peanut paced anxiously around the ship, picking up on all the nervous energy. Cammi got bored and called out, "Are you sure you're a pirate? You don't have a hook for a hand or a big feathery hat." Horuz tried to ignore her.

Jazinda chuckled, "You don't need those things to be a pirate."

"Oh, well that's lame," Cammi sighed. After what felt like an eternity to Cammi but in reality was more like thirty seconds, she dug through her pockets looking for loose change. "If I give you five units will you say 'shiver me timbers'?"

Richie burst into a fit of giggling, "Oh, my god." Gamora snickered and hid her face in her hands.

Horuz glared at her with murderous intent, "are you making fun of me?"

"You drive a hard bargain, sir!" Cammi pulled out a fist full of dollars, "I'll give you fifteen units! But you have to say 'Arrgh' too!"

Jazinda snickered despite herself and hit her head on the metal framework. Horuz's eye twitched. "Cammi, let the man work," Jazinda said.

"Fine," Cammi huffed and stuffed her units back into her pockets. "No fun allowed." Jazinda and Horuz returned to work.

When the door to the cargo ship slid open, Peanut was the first to react. He barked and growled at the ravagers, guarding the kids. Cammi hid behind Jazinda. She pointed her rifle at Yondu, and Kraglin aimed his blaster at her. Horuz ignored all of them and continued to work on the ship. Yondu and Jazinda shouted over each other, "put the gun down! Drop your blaster!"

"I'm taking my ship and the girl, Skrull," Yondu announced coldly.

"Over my dead body," Jazinda snapped.

"That could be arranged," He narrowed his eyes.

Gamora shot to her feet, "I'm not going anywhere with you!" She saw Jazinda smirk, and shouted, "I'm not leaving with you either! You killed that man, you're worse than they are!"

"How does that make me…" Jazinda furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and studied Yondu's reaction. "Oh, she doesn't know. You didn't tell her."

Gamora glanced between Jazinda and Yondu, "tell me what?"

Yondu's mohawk glowed red, he snarls, "she didn't need to know!”

"Word on the street is that he's a baby killer." Jazinda spat the words, "got disowned by his own guild for it too."

Yondu forgets about Peanut in his rage and whistles. The arrow flies towards Jazinda, but Peanut snatches it out of the air. The dog prances proudly over to Richie and drops the arrow at his feet. "God damn it! Shit! Fuck!" Yondu kicks a piece of scrap metal. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as killing her would have been.

"Can you even call yourself a ravager after what you've done?" Jazinda taunted him.

"Shut the fuck up! You don't know what you're saying!" He's practically foaming at the mouth. Gamora's expression is blank. She's too overwhelmed to really comprehend what she's hearing.

Richie knew how to deal with temper tantrums from experience with Cammi. His mother always sent Cammi to her room to cool down before they talked. Richie thought it would be dangerous to send an armed criminal to his room, so he would have to skip that part. Richie's voice is as gentle as a warm summer breeze, "then why don't you explain it to us?"

Yondu looks at Richie like he was noticing he was there for the first time. "I… what?"

Richie takes a slow deep breath and watched as Yondu unknowingly mimics him. "I want to understand your side. Please, explain it to me," Richie says calmly.

Jazinda rolls her eyes, "there's no other side. There's no good reason to,"

Cammi shouted over her, "Hey! It isn't your turn to talk yet! You have to wait!" Jazinda was confused by why a small child was scolding her. Cammi had realized what Richie was doing and decided to play along. Not all adults had good mothers to teach them the importance of taking turns and listening, and sometimes they simply forgot.

Cammi and Richie both looked at Yondu and waited for him to explain himself. He shifted uncomfortably, "I didn't know Ego was killing them. I'd get the pups name, a photo, and a location. He said he was their father, that he just wanted to see his kids again. I'd pick them up from their homeworld and bring them to Ego." He sighs heavily, his gaze drifting to Gamora. "I didn't find out until it was too late to help them."

"Okay, it's your turn now," Cammi cheerfully informed Jazinda. Gamora and Richie stayed quiet, both trying to process all the information being thrown at them.

Jazinda let the rifle hang off her shoulder by the strap. She pulled out her transmitter, quickly flipping through tabs. "This Ego?" She slid her transmitter across the flight deck to Yondu. It was opened to the app with both their bounties.

Yondu spat a string of curses when he saw the amount for his execution. Kraglin whistled, "why'd ya even bother tryin' to steal the kid?"

Jazinda half-shrugged in reply, "prefer not to get my hands dirty."

Once Yondu had calmed down enough to speak again, he confirmed Jazinda's fears. "That's the bastard," he slid the transmitter back to Jazinda.

Jazinda scowled at nothing, and after a tense moment she asks, "Can you prove it?"

Yondu nodded, "all my evidence is back on Leeto, on my ship.”

"Fuck," Jazinda exhales the word. She pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes. She was trying to decide what the best option was. "Okay, let's say I believe you. Where does that leave Gamora?"

"I wanna go home," She droned out numbly.

Jazinda sighs heavily, "that's not an option any more kid. There's going to be more people like me coming after you. They won't be as nice as I am."

Gamora shook her head, anger shaking her out of her dissociative state. "No, I wanna see my mama."

Yondu glares down at her, "your mama is sick. She can't protect you, and if she tries they'll kill her."

"You're lying! You're a liar!" Gamora stomped her foot in protest.

"Hey," Richie touches her on the shoulder gently bringing her closer. "He's not lying."

"I don't want to go with them! I want my mama!" Gamora was on the verge of tears. Cammi pushed past Jazinda and hurried to her friend's side. The three of them stood huddled together.

"So this whole situation sucks ass," Cammi stated bluntly. That got a small smile from Gamora. "I know it's really scary right now, but I'll give you my number. You can call me whenever it gets too scary, okay?"

"Me too!" Richie and Cammi both wrote out their numbers for Gamora.

She sniffled and rubs at her eyes, "Thank you."

The adults are talking as they repaired the ship. Horuz was directing everyone. Apparently, they had decided that Jazinda would cover the price of repairs for a ride back to the red planet, Leeto. Cammi and Richie stay with Gamora trying to comfort her the best they can. When they finally got the Anilius up and running, it made Gamora feel sick. She hated this. Yondu moved towards Gamora with the intent of dragging her back onto the ship, but Jazinda stopped him. "Fuck no! I'm not kidnapping her. If she comes along it has to be her choice," Jazinda pressed the barrel of her gun into Yondu's gut.

"That's a death sentence," Yondu growled.

"Her life. Her choice." Jazinda said slowly. Yondu rolled his eyes and they both looked at Gamora. “Are you ready?”

Richie brushed tears off Gamora's face with his thumb. "You need to be brave now. Be a big girl, and don't die.”

Gamora hugged Cammi and Richie goodbye before she turns and walks up the ramp onto the Anilius. She takes a deep breath, steals one last look at her friends and says, "I'm ready."


	7. Whole Lotta Trouble

Nebula always thought It must have been some kind of sick joke to name the Thanos’ spacecraft, Sanctuary II. This place had been her home for as long as she could remember, and it was anything but a sanctuary. The name also left her wondering what the hell happened to Sanctuary I, but she had never been brave enough to ask. The ship was larger than your average space station and had more artillery than the Badoon empire. Like all the other ships in Thanos’ fleet, it looked like it was designed by a pre-teen going through their edgy phase. The hull was black and accented with electric purple, with a giant skull with eyes that glowed like fire on the front. Talk about overkill. Fortunately, someone had talked Thanos out of painting the interior walls black. Nebula had a suspicion it was Corvus, the first mate’s quarters had always been the most pleasant part of the ship. 

Thanos allowed everyone to make limited changes to their private quarters. They could paint the drywall or change the flooring. However, if they wanted new furniture, decorations or toys, the children had to pay for it with the allowance they earned for going on missions. Nebula’s cabin had wooden flooring and light purple walls. She had saved up enough units to replace her bed with a plush chair. Nebula didn't sleep much anymore. She kept her charging equipment and several books from their library next to her chair. She had a wardrobe and a weapons rack for her things. There are no windows or lights. She has no need for them. Nebula unplugged herself from the charging station and grabbed her throwing knives from her weapons rack.

She had half an hour before she was supposed to be in the gymnasium. She wanted to find something new to read. Nebula stopped when she noticed her siblings crowded around an open door. Most of them are in Heather's age bracket. Servants pushed past them carrying boxes and furniture out of the cabin. “Who died?” Nebula asked no one in particular.

Cauda replied, “One of the white coats bit the bullet this morning.” That meant their cabin was up for grabs.

“Well, I'm the oldest one here!” Peter, as per usual, was at the center of the crowd. “I get first dibs on any new cabins!” The other kids grumbled their complaints.

Nebula folded her arms across her chest and shouted to be heard over the noise. “What if I want the cabin?” The kids turned to look at Nebula.

Peter glared back at her. “Don’t you have something better to do, like fighting waterfalls or meditating with bears?” He realized his mistake the moment the words left his mouth. “Wait a minute,”

Photon giggled, “Why would she fight a waterfall?” 

Cauda was equal parts delighted and confused, “what's a bear?” 

Peter groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “whatever! Nevermind!” He pointed a finger at Nebula. “This doesn't concern you.” 

“No, I think it does,” Nebula decided. She saunters across the hallway to stand between Peter and the cabin door. “I'm the oldest one here, so by your logic, this cabin belongs to me.”

Peter narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t actually want the cabin. You just don't want me to have it.” 

He was right, of course, but Nebula would rather die than admit that. “Not everything is about you, Peter.” 

He couldn't say Nebula was being unfair without sounding like a hypocrite. He raised his chin slightly, “Nebula!” He was yelling even though they were standing right next to each other. “I challenge you to a game of Hide an’ Seek!” 

There was a chorus of Ohs from their siblings. They’re watching Nebula with anticipation. Always with the theatrics. “I'm listening, ” Nebula replied.

“The winner gets to keep the new cabin.” Peter had captured his sibling’s attention as he explained, “It's you against everyone else. If you can find everyone before time runs out you win, but if you can't find someone they win. The Black Orders’ quarters, the war rooms, and the med bay are off limits.” Photon raised her hand and hopped up and down. “Yeah, Pho?”

“How do we get out? Does she have to tag us?”

Nebula chuckled darkly, “tagging is more fun.” 

“That’s scary!” Heather shivered and linked arms with her older brother, Nexus. 

“What about weapons?” Cauda piped up.

Peter shrugged and looked at Nebula. “Combat weapons are fine, but no mind control.” She said sternly while making direct eye contact with Heather. 

“I don't control people's minds. That's stupid,” Heather grumbled bitterly.

Nebula checked the time on her transmitter. “The game will last until seventeen hundred hours. I'll give you a head start.” 

Peter folded his arms across his chest, “you have to close your eyes.” 

She sighs and leans back against the wall, “that won’t help you.”

“Just keep ‘em closed,” Peter insisted. Nebula closed her eyes. The kids erupted into chatter and giggling as they scattered. Six went left eleven went right. Cauda giggled and Peter shushed him. Edbe and Lexifier ran ahead of everyone else, they went right. The adrenaline rush burns like fire. Nebula’s fingers twitched. Heather was still clinging to Nexus as they walked. Nebula heard security doors open and footsteps moving upstairs. The hallway fell silent. She drew in a slow breath and opened her eyes. Here we go.  
~~•˖✧•★•✧˖•~~

Nebula was surveying one of the many lounges on Sanctuary II from the rafters. Edbe was watching the door from behind a cabinet. Photon was hunkered down by a potted plant, ready to make a break for it. She couldn't see Lexifier. She dropped down behind Edbe and blew on her ear. Edbe tried to scream but Nebula clamps her hand over her mouth. Nebula dragged Edbe back in the darkness. She hushed her, “you lose.” Edbe folded her arms across her chest and pouted. She had the good sense to keep silent. 

Nebula drew her throwing knives and turned off the light switch with the hilt. There was a soft gasp from under the coffee table. Ah, sweet little Lexi. She threw a blade across the room. It pinned Photon’s sleeve to the wall. She squirmed out of her sweater and bolted. Nebula threw the coffee table at the door. Photon was faster. She slipped into the hallway as the wooden table smashed into the wall. Lexifier was startled and his spines shoot towards her. Nebula cartwheels over Lexifier dodging the poison spines. She poked his nose. “You're out Lexi!” She hummed retrieving her knife from the wall. She jumped over the remains of the coffee table. Lexifier sat up and groaned loudly. 

Photon knocked everything over as she ran, trying to slow Nebula down. She jumped over an overturned bookshelf. Her hand slapped against the wall as she rounded the corner. Photon was leading her somewhere. Nebula had to end this quickly. She picked up the pace. She dodged a vase that was thrown at her head. They turned another corner, the stairwell was dead ahead. Nebula was closing the distance between them. She jumped over a coffee table. Nebula threw her knife across the hallway, shattering the motion sensors for the stairwell door. Photon frantically swiped her access card through the lock. It won't open without the motion sensor. Nebula stalked towards her. Photon’s fin stood upright pulsating a soft violet. She hummed a soft tune, something Nebula recognized but couldn't place. All the furniture in the hallway flew at Nebula. It was like someone had turned off the artificial gravity. Photon always did this. Two bookshelves tried to crush Nebula but she dived out of the way. She leaped up onto a chair. Nebula dodged a vase and caught herself by the handle of a cabinet door. She was dangling several feet above the ground. A lamp was thrown at her like a javelin. Nebula let go of the cabinet, narrowly escaping the lamp. She landed on a coffee table. Nebula ran across it and lunged at Photon. She shrieked when Nebula tackled her, they rolled down the hallway. Photon slammed her head against the wall. The storm of furniture crashed around Nebula. She had Photon pinned beneath her, “you lose.”

Photon groaned and wiped the blood from her nose. “Why do you always win? It's not fair!” 

Nebula stood up and dusted herself off. “You rely too much on your silly magic tricks instead of actual skill.”

“Just because you don't understand it, doesn't make it magic.” Photon sat up slowly, nursing her headache with one hand.

Nebula strolls up to the security doors. Curious about what kind of trap her siblings had planned for her. She forced the doors open with ease and blinks as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was a tripwire on the stairs, presumably linked to something deadly. Looking up she could see light reflect off two sets of eyes staring down at her from the 17th floor. It was Cauda, undoubtedly. Her little brother always had an affinity for explosives. Since Nebula didn't want to risk activating the traps on the steps she would need to find another way up.

The staircase was U-shaped, with a wide gap in the middle. Nebula climbed over the railing so she was standing on the outside of the staircase. She spun around so she was facing the ascending flight of stairs. She let go of the railing and jumps across the gap between the staircases. She grabs the opposite railing and pulled herself up to the next floor. Nebula jumped across the gap again, climbing up the stairs quickly. “By the moons,” Cauda muttered. His voice echoed through the stairwell. He scrambled up the stairs, trying to stay ahead of her. 

Nebula caught up with him easily. She jumped to the next flight of stairs and leaned over the railing. “Boo!” Cauda leveled his gun at her head. Nebula snatched it out of his hands and dropped it over the railing. She heard it clatter to the ground. 

“Come on!” Cauda complained loudly. He sprinted towards the emergency exit. Nebula rested her elbow on the railing and her chin in her hand. She lackadaisically threw her knife into the motion sensor. It shattered and short-circuited. 

She watched as Cauda made a futile attempt to open the door, “you've lost Cauda.” Somebody whistled, the echo made it hard to pinpoint where it was coming from. She leaned back and looked up the winding staircase, she didn't see anyone. When she looked back at the door, Cauda was gone.

“Hey, Frosta! Up here!” Peter taunted her. “Come and get me, Ice Queen!” He was leaning over the railing on the floor above her. Cauda was with him. Nebula stood on the railing and jumped straight up the next floor. The boys raced up the stairs. She grabbed the edge of the staircase and pulled herself up. “Woah! Sweet trick,” Peter grinned and climbed over the railing. They raced up the inside of the stairwell. Peter managed to stay just out of Nebula's reach. It was infuriating. Nebula threw her knives at him. Peter narrowly managed to avoid the first as it shot past his head. He caught the second knife. “Mine now!” He declared before throwing it back at Nebula. She had to let go of the railing to avoid the knife. Nebula grabbed the edge of the staircase on the lower floor. Peter shouted over to Cauda. “Do the thing!”

Explosives on every other floor went off at once. The light was blinding. The explosives weren't strong enough to damage the stairwell, but it shook the ship. Nebula lost her grip and plummeted to the basement floor. She twisted in the air. Suddenly thankful for the years of gymnastics training because it taught her how to land without getting hurt. Peter fell a couple of stories but managed to catch himself on the railing. His clothes are smoldering. “Sucker--wah!” Peter ducked as Nebula threw her last knife at his head. It left a scratch just above his eyebrow. Peter climbed over the railing to safety. They both stuck their tongues out at Nebula. 

That really pissed her off. She snatched Cauda's gun off the ground. She pointed it at Peter. “Run, run, run!” He yelled when fire barked from the end of the barrel. Nebula fired the gun until the clip was empty. She threw the gun down in frustration. Nebula huffed and stormed out of the stairwell. She needed a plan, she would waste too much time trying to track Peter down again. She needed to find Heather.

~~•˖✧•★•✧˖•~~

Heather swiped her card through the lock and the security doors slid open. There are rows of ships of varying sizes stretching on for as far as the eye could see. A few people are working on computers connected to the ships. “Hi, Morgen!” Heather called out to the exhausted programmer chewing on the end of his pen. 

“Oh good morning Heather.” Morgen glanced away from the computer screen and tried to rub the bags from his eyes.

“It's almost dinner time,” Heather informed him. 

“So it is,” Morgen squinted at his watch. 

Heather skipped over to his desk and grabbed the glass jar full of candied arachnids. She stuffed a handful into her coat pocket and popped another piece into her mouth. It was sweet and crunchy. Although in her opinion, all the best candy was imported from Peter's homeworld. She tossed the wrapper to the floor. “I’m hiding from Nebula, don't tell her I'm here!” 

Morgen returned to his coding, “Alright don't break anything.”

“Okay!” Heather chirped. She waved at Dyad and Triptych as she walked past their desks. One of the cleaning bots got stuck on the thick cords that covered the floor. They’re beeping in distress. “Oh no!” She turned them around and gave them an affectionate pat. The robot beeped a happy tune. There are two little green bars on top of their head. “Are you hungry? Here you go!” Heather dropped more candy wrappers in front of the robot. They rolled over the wrappers and ate them. A third bar appeared at the top of their head.

Dyad chuckles softly, “Miss Titan, it's a robot. It can't be hungry.” 

Heather watched the bot eat the other candy wrappers. “Well, they looked hungry to me.” 

“A robot could be hungry for electricity,” Morgen suggested.

“Yeah,” Dyad conceded at first, “but they can't be hungry for garbage.”

“I designed cleaning bots to turn recyclables into energy,” Triptych said without looking up from her screen. 

Morgen pointed his pen at Dyad, “Ha!” Heather got bored and left them to bicker about robots.

There was an obsolete destroyer in the back corner of the hangar. It was slowly being stripped down for parts, most of the outer hull and weapons had already been repurposed. Nothing was ever thrown away here. This destroyer was one of the first to use plantlife as a source of oxygen instead of air canisters. Heather had been taking care of the little garden at the heart of the ship. It had overgrown its box, sprawling across the bridge and cockpit. She climbed up to the sapling at the center of the garden.

There is an echo of a rumble coming from somewhere within the ship. The UV lights flickered and swayed overhead. Heather knew an explosion when she heard one, the others must be having fun. She sat down on a patch of moss and closed her eyes. She focused on her breathing until everything fell away. She kept her senses contained to the hangar. Heather reaches out and noticed something odd. There are three beings in the hangar but four minds. She couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. Heather assumed one of her other siblings had the same idea and was hiding here. Without thinking, she latched onto the fourth mysterious consciousness. 

It was unlike anything Heather had felt before. She was looking at the flight deck and every room, every corridor on an expansive dreadnought. She knew how to control every machine inside the ship. It was as simple as breathing. Before Heather could get used to the sensation, it pushed back hard. It was like psychic whiplash, her temples ached. It's rude to invade someone's mind without asking first. A voice Heather had never heard before resounded through her mind. 

She lost her concentration. The white coats tapping away at the keyboard and the hum of the air filter were suddenly much louder. The pain was unbearable. She covered her ears and breathed deeply. Once she had calmed down, Heather reached out again. She focuses her attention on the forth consciousness without latching onto it. She thought, Sorry, I mistook you for someone else. "My name is Heather, what's yours?"

There was a long pause before they replied. Most of the staff went by an alias instead of using their given name. It was safer for their families that way. "I think I was once called Replica, but you can call me Guivre." 

The name sounded familiar but Heather couldn’t remember where she heard it. "Are you a new hire? I thought I knew everyone on staff."

Guivre made an amused sound. "You could say that, yes." Heather relaxed a little. Guivre continued, "Are you a part of the staff as well?"

That made Heather laugh, "You really are new! I'm one of Thanos’ children, his youngest daughter."

"Thanos’ children… as in the dogs of war? I thought that was a conspiracy theory." Guivre echoed with both terror and awe. 

"I'm very real I promise," Heather deadpanned. Everyone reacted that way when they found out. The older kids had created a rather large reputation for themselves. It felt good to be feared at first but now it was just plain annoying. "Now that we know each other, can you show me where you are?" Guivre dropped their psychic ward. They’re inside the dreadnought Morgen was working on. "Oh, you're working with Morgen on the AI. I know the deadline is coming up soon, it's nice of you to help out."

"The AI." Guivre made a sound that could have meant anything without knowing what their body language was. "Heather, what happens if we don't meet this deadline?" A few memories of the more gruesome deaths pass through Heather's mind. "By the stars, that's, Guivre trailed off."

Heather didn't mean for Guivre to see that. "I'm sorry."

"No, it’s better that I know about it now, " Guivre replied softly.

Heather felt Nebula's presence the moment she stepped into the hangar. Her mind was a tangled mess of half-formed concepts. It took Heather a few minutes to make sense of what Nebula was thinking. Guivre knew Heather was going to leave before Heather did. It was a little annoying. "Before you go, would you tell Morgen to check the nitrogen levels in the cooling system?"

"Sure," Heather agreed. She exhaled slowly, pulling herself back in before opening her eyes. Returning got a little easier every time, but it still left her with a migraine. Nebula was standing in front of the ship, arms folded across her chest. Heather slid down the mossy ramp and scurried up to Nebula. “How did you find me so quickly?” Nebula held up a candy wrapper between two fingers and raised one eyebrow. “Candy betrayed me!” Heather threw the last of the candy wrappers on the ground.

“I wanted to ask you,” Nebula was going to explain her plan, but Heather cut her off.

“You want me to help you locate Peter, and you'll give me the cabin in return. I'll do it.” Heather didn't wait for Nebula to respond, she started walking towards the exit. 

Nebula blinked in surprise and then followed Heather. “You knew all that but didn't know how I found you.”

“You weren't thinking about the candy wrappers.” Heather ran over to Morgen's desk and called out, “Hey, hey Morgen!” He looked down at Heather curiously. “Guivre wanted me to tell you to check the nitrogen levels or something.”

Morgen opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. “You spoke... to Guivre?” Dyad flicked her ears curiously.

“Yeah, telepathically. You're assistant is nice,” she said mostly to be polite. She grabbed more candy out of the jar.

“Heather lets go!” Nebula called from the exit. 

“Okay!” Heather shouted back. She waved goodbye to Morgen and ran after Nebula. 

“Morgen,” Dyad spoke softly, caught between scientific curiosity and fear. “She’s not lying.” 

He’s staring up at the dreadnought. “What the hell is this thing?”  
~~•˖✧•★•✧˖•~~

The library was an enormous maze. The room was O-shaped, the upper two floors had a hole in the center overlooking the main floor. You needed a map to get around the library. Or a highly intelligent telepathic toddler. Nebula leaned on the railing on the third floor, “You sure the boys are here?”

“Of course,” Heather ate another piece of candy. She pointed down to the fantasy section. “Right there.” Peter was sitting at the table with Cauda, who was fiddling with another explosive device. A fire in here would be beyond destructive. Reading her mind Heather replied, “the detonator is in his left sweater pocket. You have six minutes left.” Heather sat down, her feet dangled over the edge of the balcony. 

“I'll only need three,” Nebula boasted. Heather was content to sit on the sidelines and let Nebula do all the work.

Nebula climbed over the railing and dropped down onto the table. Peter saw her coming and tossed Cauda onto a nearby book cart. Peter pushed the cart down the aisles slowly gaining speed. Nebula broke into a full sprint. “They're heading for the exit ramp,” Heather said over the transmitter. 

“She's gaining on us!” Cauda squeaked. 

“Is it ready yet?” Peter asked.

“No,” Cauda frowned at the device. 

“We need to lose the excess weight to go faster, ” Peter said. Cauda set the device down. He threw chapter books at Nebula like frisbees. She ducked as one sailed over her head. The next two books missed her entirely. Nebula caught the third and forth. She hurled the books back at Peter. He dodged the first one. Another hit the wheel of the cart and it had to swerve. It had to slow down. Nebula reached out to him, her fingers brushed against the back of his sweater. They hit the exit ramp, it curved around the inside balcony. Peter jumped onto the book cart as it raced ahead of Nebula. The book cart was quickly gaining momentum. She would never catch up to them on foot. Nebula took a running start and jumped off the chair. She lunged over the railing and grabbed an ornate chandelier. She swung back and forth creating momentum. “Uh, hey Nebula,” Heather said nervously. 

“A little busy here!” Nebula replied through gritted teeth. Peter laughed as the book cart zipped around the ramp. Nebula swung across to the other side of the ramp and dropped down in front of the book cart. 

“It's ready!” Cauda announced attaching the device to the back of the book cart. He pulled the detonator out of his pocket and pressed the button. It wasn’t an explosive it was a rocket. Nebula barely jumped out of the way in time. The cart shot past her. They were going too fast. Cauda yelled and covered his eyes, Peter was laughing. They couldn't stop. The book cart crashed into a bookshelf on the bottom floor. It toppled over knocking into another bookshelf, they all fell like dominos. The last bookshelf fell in front of the main exit. The rocket fizzled and went out. Peter and Cauda are buried under an avalanche of books. Nebula got over her initial shock and strolled over to them.

Peter popped up first and threw his arms in the air “That was totally awesome! Let's do that again!”

Cauda crawled out from the pile of books and flopped onto the floor, “Let's not.” 

Nebula karate chopped Peter over the head. “You lose.” She helped her little brother to his feet. “You're out too, Cauda. Are you alright?” 

Cauda shifted his weight and winced, “I think I twisted my ankle.” He held up his arm to Nebula, “can you carry me?” 

“Uh, ” Nebula stammered.

“Please, it really hurts,” Cauda whimpers, his ears lay flat on his head. 

There was a long pause as Nebula considered it. If she didn't carry him back one of the other servants would have too. “Well, if you really can't walk.” She knelt down and scooped up Cauda. He was far lighter than she expected.

Heather strolled down the ramp to the bottom floor, where the others are. She whistled when she saw the state of the library. It was going to be nightmarish to clean up. Peter climbed out of the pile of books and dusted himself off. Most of his cuts and bruises had already healed. “You know, you only won because I crashed the cart.” 

Nebula scoffed, “oh please, I would have caught you. I was right there before the rocket went off!”

Peter blew a raspberry. “You only found me because you cheated!”

“I didn't cheat.”

He pointed up at Heather, “we agreed, no mind control!”

“It’s not mind control!” Both Nebula and Heather shouted at him. Nebula heard Cauda giggle.

“Semantics!” Peter threw his hands up in an exasperated gesture. “I want a rematch!”

Nebula smiled. “Ronan is coming for a visit at the end of the month.” Heather stiffened when Nebula mentioned his name. The color drained from her face. “Dad will be hosting another tournament, you can lose to me then.” 

Peter groaned, “that's two weeks away. You're no fun!”

Without another word, Nebula turned and walked towards the exit. She couldn't be late for training or Proxima Midnight would blow a fuse. Cauda rested his head against Nebula's shoulder as she walked. She dropped him off at the med bay and went to training. The rest of the day was uneventful in comparison. She would never admit it but everything is more fun when Peter is around.


	8. Blue on Black

The children’s living quarters was complete chaos. Corvus is trying his best to get everyone ready for Ronan's arrival, but the whole event was like fighting an uphill battle. The eldest children helped out however they could, as a middle child, Peter was only responsible for making himself presentable. However, everything ran more smoothly when they all looked out for each other. Peter felt he was getting the hang of being their older brother.

 

His little brother, Nexus tugged on his jacket, “Peter, I need help with my shoes! Can you show me the bunnies, again?” 

 

“Yeah, no problem.” Peter knelt down to help Nexus. He hummed the song his mother taught him. “First you cross them like this, and then you fold them like that.” Nexus watched intensely, trying to commit it to memory. Peter slowly tied one of his shoes for him. “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” 

 

Nexus giggled, “lemon squeezy?” 

 

“Peter!” Kekallie yelled to be heard over the noise. 

 

“Coming!” He yelled back, then patted Nexus shoulder. “I'll be right back, try and tie the other one.” Peter weaved through the crowd until he found Kekallie sitting on the floor with Cauda. She was consoling him the best she could. 

 

Kekallie flashed a sad smile at Peter. “Cauda is missing his hairclip. Have you seen it?”

 

Peter shifted his weight, “the one with the flower or the one with the insect.”

 

“The flower.” Cauda sniffled and rubbed his eyes. “My mommy gave it to me.” This was serious, then.

 

“Did you check the med bay?” The white coats made you remove all your jewelry and weapons before entering. Cauda always forgot to pick his stuff up before leaving. He shook his head and Kekallie rubbed his back. “I'll go look for it, okay?” 

 

Peter sprinted down the hallway, pushing past his siblings.  The door to the stairwell slid open, Peter jumped over the railing. He caught himself on the staircase and climbed onto the lower floor. He made two lefts and a right and walked into the med bay. Cauda's hairclip is sitting in the bin by the door. It was a small piece of amber with a flower trapped inside. Peter sighed happily and he tucked the hairclip back into his jacket pocket. Peter hurried back to his quarters.

 

When he returned to the crowded stretch of hallway, Nexus was waiting for him. “Peter look! I tied it all by myself!” He announced proudly.

 

Peter grinned, “I knew you could do it!” Nexus trails behind Peter as he pushed his way through the crowd. He found Cauda and Kekallie on the floor, right where he left them. Cauda was huddled in a ball, sniffling softly. Peter knelt down so he was eye level with Cauda and pulled the amber hairclip out of his pocket. “You found it!” Cauda tackled Peter in a hug, wrapping his arms around his brother's neck. His horns brushed against Peter's cheek. “Thank you!”

 

“Yeah, no problem,” Peter chuckled. When Cauda pulled away, Peter clipped the amber flower into Cauda's hair. “You need to take better care of this,” Peter scolded him, “it's important.” 

 

Cauda touched the hairclip affectionately. “I will, I promise.”

 

“Cauda, ” Kekallie stood up and offered her hand. “you need to get dressed now, alright?” She helped Cauda off the ground.

 

“Yeah, okay.” Cauda sighed and hurried back to his cabin. 

 

Peter turned to leave but Kekallie grabbed him by the collar. “Wait a minute!” Peter sighed as his older sister glanced over his outfit. She pulled back his jacket, “what is that?”

 

Peter was wearing a navy blue T-shirt under his formal jacket. The shirt had a white diagram of Earth's solar system and the words Starchild printed in English. “This is the shirt I got from Earth's tourism board, ” Peter said meekly.

 

“You cannot wear that to dinner,” Kekallie pinched the bridge of her nose.

 

“Aw c'mon man, this is so not cool!” Peter stomped his foot.

 

She lets out an exasperated sigh, “you cannot wear your light up gym shoes either.” 

 

“Lame!” Peter folded his arms over his chest and pouted. “I’m eight full cycles now! I can dress myself!”

 

“Apparently not, ” Kekallie observed. Cauda yelled for her and she shoved Peter towards his cabin. “You go change! I will pick out an outfit for you if need be.” Peter changed his outfit twice before Kekallie deemed it acceptable for dinner. He wore his crimson red collar shirt under the formal black jacket, with slacks and gym shoes. Peter hated black. The jacket was a gift from Thanos, it was embroidered with their rank and security clearance. They were required to wear them.

 

 ~~•˖✧•✯•✧˖•~~

 

Ronan the Accuser--the Kree warlord who sanctioned the genocide of billions and brought interplanetary empires to their knees--was leisurely sipping ice tea while he bounced his daughter on his knee. She the spitting image of her mother, with peach skin, silver eyes, and platinum blonde hair. The scene was so jarring that Peter stumbled into Nebula. She elbowed him in the ribs and hissed, “watch it!” 

 

The mess hall is extravagant. It has polished marble walls and three chandeliers that sparkle like gold. The tables are covered in silk cloth and there's a bouquet of flowers freshly cut from their garden. The mess hall looks more like a ballroom from a fantasy castle than it did a cafeteria. After eating here for years, the mess hall's charm was lost on Peter. The children walk into the mess hall in two single file line. The Black Order joins Thanos, Ronan and the other Kree officials at the table on the platform.

 

Peter kept staring at Ronan as he whispered to Nebula. “Did you know Ronan had a daughter?”

 

“Stepdaughter” Nebula corrected. She found an empty chair and stood behind it, Peter chose the seat next to her. “Sel-enic is from Princess Crystal’s previous marriage. We learned about her in our history lesson last week.” 

 

“Sit, ” Thanos thundered. Peter and his siblings pulled out their chairs and sat down in unison. Sel-enic was watching them with wide round eyes.

 

“Right, right, I totally remember that.” Peter nodded his head and folded his arms across his chest. “Could you remind me why anyone would want to marry genocide smurf again?”

 

Miertra chuckled, “Princess Crystal is marrying Ronan to end the decades of war between their two empires, silly.”

 

Nebula glared at him. “You better watch your tongue before someone cuts it out, again. Dad wouldn't approve of you insulting his associates.” Peter wasn't sure if that was a threat or a warning. 

 

“Thanos won’t find out because no one is going to tell him,” Peter growled back. The servants drifted around the mess hall serving dinner. 

 

“Not even five minutes and you are already causing trouble.” Voros sighed and tossed a bread roll to Peter. 

 

He caught it on reflex. The pretzel bread was still warm. “I'm being careful, they can't hear us.” Peter insisted as he took a bite from the roll.

 

“Except Ebony Maw, ” Miertra pointed out.

 

“Except Ebony Maw!” Peter echoed with pure horror. He stood up to get a better look at Ebony. The telepath wasn't focused on Peter, his full attention was on Heather. She was sitting by herself, glaring at her bowl of soup as if it had committed some horrible atrocity against her. The spoon bent in her hand. She didn't even notice. Peter sank slowly back into his chair. “Uh hey, has Heather been acting weird lately?”

 

Voros and Miertra look at each other and then back at Peter. “She has been awfully moody recently, ” Miertra shrugged.

 

Voros waved his fork in the air, “Kekallie told me Heather threw a temper tantrum this morning. She did not say what it was about.” 

 

“Hm, ” Peter stood up again. “We should go sit with her.” 

 

“We?” Miertra raised his eyebrows.

 

“I would prefer not to, ” Voros grunted. 

 

Peter frowned at them. “Neb come with me.” 

 

Nebula rolled her eyes at him, “No way, I already sat down.” Peter scowled at them and then he grinned impishly. “Don't even think about it. I swear by the stars,” She snarled. Peter flapped his arms and clucked like a chicken at her. Their siblings are staring at them.

 

“Peter! Ronan the Accuser is here!” Miertra was mortified. None of this stopped Peter from putting one foot up on the chair and crowing like a roster. Kekallie and several of his siblings suppressed laughter. Thanos shot an annoyed look in their direction. Ronan's stepdaughter giggled at his antics and Peter winked at her. 

 

Nebula shot to her feet and dragged Peter down. “Enough! You win! Okay? I'll go.” 

 

He grabbed his plate and silverware, “thank you.” 

 

“Succumb to the void,” Nebule growled at him.

 

The mess hall settled down as they walked over to Heather's table. The air around her was tense. It was a harsh pressure on his skull, it physically hurt to be near her. Peter set his plate down in the empty spot next to Heather. “Can I sit here?” She nodded without looking up from her soup. Nebula sat across from them, brooding quietly. Peter knew something was bothering her but didn’t how to ask her about it, or if he could even fix it. 

 

A servant set a bread basket down on the table. Peter snatched up more warm pretzel bread. Kekallie was watching them and rolled her chair over to their table. “Maybe you should eat something besides bread,” Kekallie suggested.

 

“Maybe you should mind your own business.” Peter really only wanted one or two more bread rolls, but since Kekallie tried to shame him, Peter had to commit to it. He made direct eye contact with her while he made a bread pyramid on his plate. He emptied both bread baskets. 

 

“That’s an ungodly amount of bread, ” Nebula observed with a bored expression.

 

Peter leaned forward and gestured at Nebula with his bread roll. “Has anyone ever told you that you sound like an old wizard that's grey-haired and grey-clad, and leans on a staff?”

 

Kekallie interjected, “that’s oddly specific.” 

 

“Because that's what you sound like,” Peter talked over her.

 

“Maybe you're the one who talks funny.” Heather's voice is barely above a whisper.

 

“I don't talk funny!” Peter protested through a mouthful of bread. 

 

“Sometimes I think you speak a made-up language only you understand,” Nebula said.

 

Heather nodded in agreement. “C’mon man, that's like, totally not cool. Super grody to the max.” Kekallie said in an exaggerated American accent. Nebula nearly spits her water across the table. Heather burst into a fit of giggling. 

 

“I don’t sound anything like that!” Peter threw a bread roll at her but he was smiling. Kekallie caught it with ease. His bread pyramid toppled over and rolled onto the floor. “My bread pyramid!” He managed to catch two pieces.

 

Heather pointed at the fallen bread and announced, “That's the fate's punishment for your gluttony.” 

 

Peter rolled his eyes in response, “fate be damned. I'm gonna eat all the bread I want.” Heather chatted and joked with them. The psychic pressure around her relaxed. She was doing better.  Peter munched on his two remaining bread rolls, while dinner was served. He piled meat and starches onto his plate. Kekallie cut Heather's food into tiny pieces for her with her switchblade. The evening was going smoothly until the tournament began. Everyone gathered on the observation deck above the arena, there's a thick plated glass window separating them. The kids and the Kree officials stood in front of the window. Thanos, Ronan and his family got to sit on the dais and watch. The servants floated around serving fruit and drinks.

 

Edbe and Photon went first. Edbe was a Remeir an amphibious species that had limited control over electricity, while Photon was considered a skilled telekinetic (even for a Centaurian.) This made their sparring sessions amazing to watch. The rules of each fight are simple. The challenger got to pick the terrain, and all weapons and abilities are allowed. The fight is only over when Thanos says it is. Although, their father had a nasty habit of allowing the fights to go far longer than they should. 

 

It was this moment that Sel-enic slid off her stepfather's lap and skipped over to them. The Kree officials parted for her. She was clutching a notebook to her chest. “Good evening,” Sel-enic said in Kree. Her accent told of an upbringing on the Kree colonies, which was unusual for someone in her social standing. Heather went completely still.

 

“Good evening,” Nebula echoed her sentiment politely in Kree. Peter tried to reply but choked on the berries he was eating. He had to wash it down with water. “You're an embarrassment, ” Nebula hissed under her breath in Standard.

 

When Peter could speak again he said in Kree, “Hi I'm Nebula's little brother, Peter.” Nebula stepped on his foot, her face flushed a touch purple.  

 

“Everyone in the galaxy knows who you are, children of Thanos.” Sel-enic reached out and clasped Nebula's hand. “I'm very familiar with your work.”

 

“You, you are?” Nebula was caught off guard and was utterly bewildered.

 

Sel-enic smile was blindingly bright, “you took down that terrorist cell on Rho! You’ve worked alongside Daddy Ronan to keep the Kree empire safe. You're a hero!” 

 

Peter swore the air around Heather dropped by several degrees. “A hero,” Heather couldn't hide the sneer from her voice.

 

“Is that what your dad told you?” Peter spoke slowly, choosing his words very carefully.

 

“It was all over the news.” Sel-enic chirped seemingly unaware of Heather’s growing rage. She presented her notebook to Nebula, “could you sign this for me? Phyla is gonna be so jealous that I got to meet you!” Nebula signed her notebook in a daze. 

 

“Do you know the nickname she earned for that mission?” Heather voice was calm but it cut like a razor. Sel-enic stares at Heather all doe-eyed. 

 

Peter put two and two together. Ronan sanctioned the genocide of Heather's homeworld, and Thanos gave him military support. Ronan killed her parents. “Heather, ” Peter says but she doesn’t hear him. 

 

“They call her the Reaper of Rho.” Nebula put on a mask of neutrality as Heather spoke. “The devil that came straight from hell. She slaughtered hundreds of people.” 

 

“That’s so stellar!” Sel-enic clutched her notebook tightly to her chest. “I can't believe you're a kid like me! You’re gonna fight in the tournament later right?” The psychic pressure was building. It was crushing his skull. Heather is glaring at Sel-enic. Peter doesn't know what to do, this isn't something he can fix. The path Heather is headed down is a dark one.

 

“I can't wait to watch you fight! I'll be rooting for you,” Sel-enic says sweetly. Peter had never seen Nebula turn that shade of purple before.

 

Ebony Maw appears out of nowhere and gingerly placed a hand on Heather’s shoulder. The psychic energy vanished. “You are up next my dear,” Ebony said before he dropped his voice to a whisper. Peter barely heard him say, “That girl is under my protection.”

 

Sel-enic curtsied at Ebony, “good evening.” 

 

“Good evening, ” He steered Heather away from Sel-enic. “You will have to excuse us. Heather has other matters to attend to.” 

 

Peter watched them disappear into the crowd. The whole exchange left a bad taste in his mouth. “Yes well, the real spectacle begins when Heather and Cauda fight.” Nebula said casually, “my little brother has an affinity for explosives, and Heather's skill in telepathy allows her to create illusions.” Unable to do anything else Peter stares out into the arena. 

 

Photon was declared the winner of their fight. There's a cheer from the kids and the officials exchange units. The medical team tends to the worst of Edbe and Photon’s wounds as they're ushered away. The arena resets to an empty white box. Cleaning bots skitter across the floor mopping up the blood. Fears icy fingers grip Peter's heart as Heather stalks into the arena. No good could come of this. Ebony returned to the observation deck, standing guard by the window.  The arena shuttered and then shifted. A golden meadow sprouted from the floor, a soft lilac sky appears with two suns hanging overhead. The meadow gave way to a black sand beach where waves crash against rocks. It seemed endless. Peter had to remind himself that Heather was still in the same empty room as before. She turned and glares up at Ronan.

 

Peter heard the warlord chuckle, “I remember that place. Certainly, a little spitfire, isn’t she?” 

 

Thanos nodded in agreement, “that she is.” He was not nearly as amused as Ronan was. “Begin!” He thundered with a wave of his hand. 

 

Heather closed her eyes, her breathing was slow and steady. A glowing ring of green fire encircles her. It grows more intense with every breath she takes. Cauda broke into a run putting as much distance between them as he could. He threw out landmines that scuttled across the meadow like bugs. Heather opened her eyes. Twin green dragons made of pure fire erupted from the ground. They twisted around each other as they shot towards the sky. “Woah!” Sel-enic gasped and pressed her forehead against the window. Cauda was ready for this. A small explosion went off to her left. Heather barely managed to dive out of the way. She rolls across the meadow and her dragons moved with her. Heather swiped down at the air with her palm. The dragons uncoiled, diving at Cauda. Their mouths opened unnaturally wide. He pulled the pin out of a grenade with his fangs and hurled it into the air. There was a tremendous spark of light and bang that shook the observation deck. One dragon burst into a flurry of embers. Heather covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. The remaining dragon slammed into Cauda. He collapsed in unimaginable agony, he pressed his forehead to the floor, holding his sides. It was burning him alive. The dragon passed through him disappearing into the ground. 

 

“I don't get it,” Sel-enic said loud enough for everyone to hear. “How can illusions hurt somebody?”

 

“Pain is all up here.” Voros tapped his head with his knuckles. “Your mind cannot tell the difference between phantom pain and real pain. Hurts all the same.” Sel-enic pursed her lips and looked out the window.

 

Cauda slowly pulled himself off the ground. He was grinning devilishly, the imaginary green flames still licked at his clothing. A landmine exploded underneath Heather. She was thrown back against the wall. Peter inhaled sharply through his teeth. There was a bloody smear across the lilac sky where Heather slid down the wall. Heather staggered to her feet and the dragon rose from the ground with her. Cauda grabbed another grenade off his belt and hurled it at Heather. She ran around the Arena. She avoids the first two but the third was coming in too fast. She twisted around to kick the grenade away and landed back in fighting stance. The grenade went off mid-air. She brought her fist down and her dragon dived into the explosion. Cauda pulled out several spherical bombs and hurled them Heather’s feet. They exploded in a colorful fountain of sparks, shrieking like a dying animal. Heather's knees gave out and she crumples to the ground, her hands are clasped tightly over her ears. Her dragon exploded into a shower of multicolored embers above Cauda's head. He tossed another bomb at her feet. The explosion burned her badly. A scream is ripped from her throat as she skidded across the floor and slammed into the wall.  

 

“Get up, Heather!” Lexifier and Kekallie both yelled down at their sister. “Get up! Stand up!” Sel-enic is watching the fight through her fingers.

 

The skin along Heather's shins and forearms had blackened and chard. There are specks of bone poking through her lacerated flesh. She's breathing weakly as Cauda strolls towards her. Her red swirling tattoo begins to glow, and her eyes burn so intensely it looks like flames. Cauda stops in his tracks. Heather stood up. All around her the meadow burns with green flames. She steps forward and pushes out with her palm. The green dragon erupts from the flames. It’s color shifted from green to yellow to orange, sparks rolled off its glowing scales as it doubled in size. There's no escape. The dragon swept through Cauda, and he was thrown at a deadly speed across the arena. He cracked the wall when he slammed into it. The picturesque sky glitched out revealing white paneling beneath. Cauda lays in a crumpled heap on the ground. His blood paints the golden meadow black.

 

“She's a telekinetic and a telepath,” Photon whispered a tad enviously. 

 

“Don't let her pin you down Cauda!” Miertra yelled.

 

Cauda braces himself against the wall and tries to stand up, but he slips on his own blood. He slides back down the wall. Heather took another step forward, she raised her palms skyward, and in one sharp motion brought them down. Her dragon followed. There's enough time, he could get away if he tried. “Run, Cauda! Move!” Peter yelled. Her dragon smashed Cauda into the ground. His body is wreathed with multicolor flames. Peter felt his heart stop. Heather pivots and she pushed towards the observation deck. Her dragon’s serpent-like body contorted in the air. It charged directly at them, at Ronan. Its mouth opened wide, its eyes are pure flames. The children screamed and dropped to the floor for cover. Nebula yanked Sel-enic down. Ebony flicked his wrist as if batting away a pesky insect and Heather’s dragon exploded into a shower of multicolor embers. Heather closed her eyes and her tattoo's stopped glowing. She collapsed to the ground. “Heather is the winner,” Thanos announced and there are cheers from the crowd. Peter is silent. He can't tear his eyes away from the arena.

 

Cauda isn't moving.

 

There's so much blood. It’s matted against his hair and pooling on the floor. Everything is happening too fast. The landscape shutters and returns back to a white box. The cleaning bots scurry across the floor. Heather’s badly hurt but she's still breathing. The white coats are carrying Cauda and Heather out of the Arena. “Peter?” Proxima Midnight has to touch his shoulder to get his attention. “You are going next.” 

 

Peter walks out of the observation deck and down the stairs in a daze. Outside the arena, Heather is curled up on a gurney. She would need a skin graft if Thanos didn't have her arms removed. Their eyes met and she grabbed onto his jacket. “I didn't mean to. It was an accident.” Heather was nearly pleading. “I was so angry, and then,” Her voice caught in her throat. Peter didn't know what to say. What do you say to something like that?

 

There’s a corpse on the gurney next to her. It looks like Cauda, and it's dressed like him, but that thing was a corpse. His little brother wasn't in there anymore. Peter felt nothing, his head is full of static. It's hard to breathe, hard to think. He reached down and removed Cauda's hairclip from the corpse. It was a gift from Cauda’s mother, it was important.  Peter tucked it safely into his pocket. The white coats escorted Heather down to the med bay. The corpse would be thrown into the recycler, it's body ground up into fertilizer for the gardens.

 

The countdown clock by the arena door read thirty seconds. Peter stood in front of it. Light shines through the crack in the door. It's bright, burning even. He doesn't notice when Nebula arrives. She stood next to Peter, her fists are balled at her sides. She's glaring at the clock. Ten seconds. Nebula is trying very hard to suppress her rage but it’s bubbling to surface. “She killed Cauda, didn't she?”


	9. End of the Line

It's a two days flight from the edge of the solar system back to Leeto. The Anilius was in rough shape but she made it back in one piece. Gamora followed the others off the Anilius and onto the Eclector. Horuz pulled the ship into the hangar. "The bridge is this way, " Kraglin gestured for Jazinda to follow him.

Gamora wanted to stay with Jazinda and Kraglin but Yondu grabbed her by the collar. "Hold it. Your gonna stay here and help Horuz fix the Anilius." Yondu shoved her roughly towards the hangar.

"But I wanna-"

Yondu interrupted her, "I don't care whatcha want. This whole mess is your fault, you're gonna help fix it!" Gamora kept her gaze fixed on the floor. She didn't know if she was too exhausted or too afraid to argue with him. "Am I understood?" Gamora nodded in response. Yondu stalked towards the bridge leaving her alone on the flight deck.

Gamora set her duffel bag down by the door and sighed heavily. She follows the sound of construction to where Horuz was working. He was repairing the inside of the Anilius. "Um, excuse me?" She yells to be heard over the sound. Horuz set the equipment down and grabbed a handful of bolts out of the toolbox. "Uh, Yondu said I was supposed to help you."

"Y'know what would be helpful? If ya shut up and stayed over there." Horuz pointed towards the far end of the hangar.

Gamora stood awkwardly behind Horuz, watching him work. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing. "What's that?" She pointed to the tool he was holding.

"Sladon," He grunted in reply.

"What's it do?"

Horuz sighed heavily and turns to glare at Gamora. "It repairs metals," he states curtly.

There was a tense moment while Horuz waited for her to respond. Gamora fidgets with the hem of her skirt. "Oh, " She replies meekly. He picked up the sladon. "Can I help?"

He set the sladon down with a loud thump. "Do you know how to rewire a console?" Gamora shook her head. "Can you repair a bulkhead? Run diagnostics on life support?"

"I can't."

"Then you're better off stitching up clothes, with Hazira. I ain't a preschool teacher." Horuz snapped at her with a mean snarl.

Gamora expression hardened into a scowl, "but Yondu said-"

He cut her off, "How many other little girls do you see in engineering?"

"Uh,"

"None." Horuz stood up, casting a long shadow over Gamora. She takes a step back. Her hand brushes against the wall behind her. She's trapped. "You don't belong here. Stay out of my way." He punctuates each word as if it were its own sentence. His voice is dripping with malice. Gamora bolted, Horuz watched her run to the cockpit.

She didn't feel better until she put a locked door between them. Her heart is beating fast, and her breathing is staggered. She flopped into the pilot's seat and tried to calm down. Gamora can see the glass hatch that separates the Eclector from the rest of the world, from the cockpit. Leeto was a way station for the Shi'ar empire, as a result, the dock is packed. It's crawling with different ships and deckhands moving cargo under the sinking sun. Movement catches her eye. There's a small group of kids drawing with chalk and playing in a fountain. It looked like fun. A deckhand shouts something at them, and two break off from the group to help move cargo. They're cabin girls, like her. Gamora decided being reprimanded by Yondu later couldn't be worse than spending time with Horuz now.

Gamora slipped out of the cockpit and nervously glanced around. Horuz had returned to work. He appeared to be significantly less angry with her. "I'm going to play in the fountain," She announced. The mechanic waved the sladon at Gamora as she passed him.

Gamora slipped out of the Eclector and wanders over to the fountain. She sent Jazinda a message with her location, just in case something bad happened. There are three kids playing in the fountain and two more drawing with chalk. They're all wearing different uniforms. "Um, hi there," Gamora called out to them in Standard. "Whatcha doing?"

"Hiya!" The half Sepiidae kid with the easy smile and clear gold eyes said. Their dark blue skin shifts to an even darker green and their white spots dissipate into freckles that splatter their skin like stars. Their jumper had the designation Neverknott. "I'm drawing the famous ghost ship, the Leiurus."

"Ghost ship?" Gamora asks, moving closer to get a better look.

They smiled wickedly. "It was a spacecraft carrier that was supposed to make a delivery in the Andromeda galaxy. Except it never got there. A union trader found it on the float, completely empty. The entire crew had been brutally slaughtered."

They had captivated the attention of the half Skrull kid playing in the fountain. The upper half of their jumper was tied around their waist. Gamora couldn't make out their name. "Was it ravagers? Or bounty hunters?" Their skin prickled. A yellow and blue pattern ripples across them in waves.

"Nope. All the food, water, and air were intact," Neverknott replied. "They say it was the ghost of a Xandarian boy, with glowing red eyes. He was singing a requiem for the fallen."

"That's creepy!" Gamora shivered.

The Xandarian girl with red hair and brown skin frowns. She dusts the chalk off her hands. Quibee is written in marker on her blue overalls. "If everyone died how do they know the ghost killed them?"

Orange ringlets flicker across Neverknott's skin. "I dunno, security footage?"

Quibee moved closer to get a better look at Neverknott's drawing. "And why does a ghost need a gun?" Gamora tried to suppress her laughter and failed.

"It's a ghost gun okay!" Neverknott rested their hands where Gamora presumed their hips are. The other kids are giggling. "Y'know it's better if ya just don't question the legend."

The half Skrull kid laughed, the yellow and blue pattern melted into a green color. "So the giant space Kraken is real but ghosts are too unbelievable?"

"Naefia is real! I've seen her!" Quibee shouted defensively.

"There's no way that's true," The Skrull kid scoffed. Orange waves ripple across their skin as it hardens into scales. "It would freeze and suffocate in the void."

A mixed race girl, in a green jumper, sighs. She's nervously twirling a stray lock of hair. Her name isn't sewn into her uniform. "I dunno Rexili, the Celestial's never had any problem moving through the void."

"That's the dumbest thing you've said all day! The giant space Kraken isn't a Celestial!" Rexili was caught between yelling and laughing.

"That's not what I said!" The girl splashed Rexili with water and they splashed her back.

Water sloshed over the side of the fountain. It washed away the Quibee's drawing. She dropped her chalk and balled her hands into fists. "I'mma flatten you, Dusty!" Quibee jumped into the fountain splashing the others with water.

Neverknott's skin settles and fades back into its original dark blue. "Nevermind them, Quibee and Rexili work for rival folding companies."

Gamora furrowed her eyebrows, "and a folding company is…?"

Neverknott explains without looking up from their drawing. "They create the jump points, we use to travel, by folding space together." A Sepiidae kid wadded over to the edge of the fountain. Their skin ripples in a vibrant blue-green pattern with white stripes. The word Eos was sewn into their jumper.

Gamora waves at them, "what are they saying?"

"Hm?" Neverknott glanced up as Eos repeated the pattern, a little slower and more vibrantly. "They wanna know which company you work for. They think your uniform is cute."

"Oh, uh," Gamora stammered nervously and hugged her ravager jacket to her chest. "I don't-I don't work for uh, a company."

Eos and Neverknott blink the same yellow pattern at Gamora. "You work for a guild?" Neverknott exclaims, "that's stellar! Which guild are you apart of?"

"I work for a ravager guild," Gamora said a little hesitantly. Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Neverknott laughed, "Right! Like a ravager guild has a cabin girl!" Green swirls bloom across Eos and Neverknott's skin, and the end of their tendrils glowed. "No, but seriously, which guild?"

Horuz's words are still fresh in Gamora's mind. She blurted out, "I sew and mend clothes, and drink too much coffee and talk about things that aren't any of my business." She was pretty sure that was Hazira's job was.

"You're a part of a tailors guild?"

"Yes! That makes sense!" Gamora nodded enthusiastically. Strange, how a lie was more believable than the truth. Horuz was right she doesn't belong here. The thoughts made her feel sick, but she doesn't understand why. She never wanted to be a ravager anyway. Gamora resolves to draw something instead of dwelling on it. There are too many different feelings and she can't sort them all out right now. Gamora sketched out the flowers planted around the fountain. She drew pictures and played in the fountain. Neverknott told her stories of other famous ghost ships. They're a little obsessed with them.

Gamora's not sure how much time passes before Kraglin came looking for her. He was dressed casually. She almost didn't recognize him without the ravager jacket. "Hey, kid!"

Gamora was wading through the fountain, the cool water was refreshing in the desert heat. She was soaking wet. "Hi, Kraglin!"

He scowled down at her, "where have you been?"

Gamora stepped out of the fountain and wrang out her pigtails. "I was playing with the other cabin kids. I told Horuz where I was going." She pointed to the cabin kids, "These are my new friends."

They waved at Kraglin. He greeted them curtly, "yeah hi, whatever. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Cause you're a tattletale," Gamora replied.

"Is this your older brother?" Rexili asked quietly.

"He's kind of rude, " Quibee added.

"He's not my brother, Gross!" Gamora wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Kraglin is the first mate."

Rexili and Quibee gaped at her. "And you call him by his first name?" Neverknott nearly shouted in disbelief. They are patterned with a light shade of yellow.

Gamora shrugged, she didn't think it was that weird. "What else would I call him?"

Eos and Neverknott exchange critical looks, "last name, or title!" They say in unison.

"My brother is sleeping with the first mate and even I'm not allowed to do that, " Rexili said.

Quibee snickered, "I think ya got that backward." Rexili pushed her into the fountain. "Okay, I deserved that," Quibee giggled again.

"Hey!" Kraglin shouted, startling the children. He grabbed Gamora by the arm. "You've wasted enough time. The captain needs to talk to you." There's a chorus of Ohs from the cabin kids, as Gamora is pulled away.

~~•˖✧•✯•✧˖•~~

Yondu stole a glance at the hotel entrance for the third time in the last five minutes. He was sitting at the bar in the lobby. Some of the crew are eating dinner in the adjacent restaurant. Jazinda was sitting out on the patio. Yondu didn't understand why the bounty hunter was still here. Gamora wasn't her problem anymore. Bruhl, the only member of his crew with medical training, strolled over to Yondu. "I thought you were looking for our cabin girl."

"She wasn't here the first time I checked the bar, thought I'd check again," Yondu said into his glass. Kraglin had sent Yondu a message saying, he had found Gamora and was on his way here. All Yondu could do was wait. He hated waiting. "While I gotcha here, there's a job opening. I need a new second mate." Bruhl scoffed and then laughed. "I'm serious, you're doin' half the job already."

Bruhl shook their head, "I'm most useful to you in sickbay. Promote current third mate, they've earned it."

"Aw hell, Doc, then I'd need a new third mate." Yondu sighed and glanced over at the entrance again.

"Taking job would put target on my back, " Bruhl replies dismissively.

The front door slid open and Yondu snapped around to look. Kraglin ushered Gamora inside the hotel and pushed her in Yondu's direction. "Just think about it," he mutters to Bruhl before standing up. Gamora wasn't hurt, the other bounty hunters hadn't found her, yet. She was safe. She was still alive. Yondu exhales slowly and his expression twisting into a scowl. He was going to kill that stupid brat. Didn't she realize the danger she was in? Gamora refused to look at Yondu or get any closer to him. "Start talking! Where the hell have you been?!" The lobby went silent. He can feel the eyes of the crew on them.

"I was playing in the fountain by the docks. I told Horuz where I was going." Gamora explained in a soft voice.

"You don't report to Horuz, you report to me. There are dangerous people looking for you. I need to know where you are!" Concern was creeping its way into Yondu's voice, he tried to stomp it back down. "You disobeyed a direct order."

Jazinda stepped between Gamora and Yondu. When did she move across the room? "Calm down. Leeto isn't exactly a hub for criminal activity, and I knew where she was."

"Wait a minute, you told the bounty hunter but not me?" Yondu's mohawk flares up when he snarls. Gamora flinched and Jazinda put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you," Gamora whispers. It's infuriating, annoying, pathetic. Yondu wasn't worried about her. That wasn't what this was about. He's gonna knock some sense into that brat. Jazinda's hand is hovering over her holster. But then, Gamora said something that caught them both off guard. "I only left because Horuz said, I'd be better off learning how to stitch up clothes than learning how to fix ships."

Kraglin inhaled sharply through his teeth but didn't look surprised. Yondu visibly cringed. "He said, what?" Jazinda was trying very hard not to yell.

Gamora nodded sadly, "he wouldn't let me help. I don't belong here."

Jazinda huffs, "I grew up on a naval base. I knew the basics by the time I was your age."

Yondu had to make sure the mechanic learned how to watch his mouth. Horuz already had Gamora believing that bullshit he was spouting. That was dangerous. Yondu drifted away from Gamora, "Don't listen to Horuz. He's a moron and he's wrong."

Gamora furrowed her eyebrows, "Then how come I'm the only girl who works in engineering?"

Yondu shoveled his hands into his pockets and shifted uncomfortably. He could feel his rage fizzling out. "That's because, uh, " Shit. Are the engineers really all men? That couldn't be right. Gamora's waiting for an answer. Jazinda shot Yondu a critical look, there's no good response. He needs to say something, he blurted out, "I don't have to explain myself to you!"

Jazinda rolled her eyes and touched Gamora's shoulder lightly. The crowd of onlookers parted for them. He's a little relieved when Jazinda leads the girl away. She sighs and offers reluctantly, "If you really want to learn to fix ships, I can teach you." They step out onto the patio and Yondu can't hear them anymore. The room breathes a collective sigh of relief. The background chatter resumed and the lobby returned to normal. Except now the bartender was glaring at Yondu. He's probably going to spit in his drink.

Yondu sat back down at the bar and Kraglin joined him. "Uh sir, maybe we should hire more women, for Gamora's sake." Yondu sighed loudly and drummed his fingers on the bar. Truth be told, he was thinking the same thing. Horuz wasn't the only loudmouthed moron with bad opinions. Gamora wouldn't learn anything if the crew refused to teach her. It's all a mess.

Bruhl cleared his throat and Yondu suddenly remembered he was there. "Captain, I have thought about the job offer and,"

Yondu interrupted him, "You decided to take it?"

"No. I have uh," He paused choosing his words carefully, "different solution. You are not going to like it." Yondu sipped his drink and waited for Bruhl to continue. "You want to hire someone Gamora can look up too. Someone who's willing to teach 'er, and will not take shit from crew, a woman, yes?"

Yondu knew where this was going. "No, no, no, no. Not her," He put his head down on the bar and groaned.

"Promote current third mate, and make Jazinda new chief of security," Bruhl said.

Kraglin looked back at Gamora. Jazinda had her swaddled in a towel and was trying to dry her off. "Despite everything that's happened, sir, Gamora does seem to like her."

Yondu lifted his head to shoot Kraglin an exasperated look. "She killed the second mate."

"She killed to protect our cabin girl," Bruhl countered, "cannot buy loyalty like that."

"She's self-righteous, spiteful, and arrogant!"

Kraglin snorted, "she'll fit right in."

Yondu blew a raspberry. He didn't want to admit it but Bruhl had a point. If Jazinda had the balls to stand up to him, Yondu had no doubt she'd have zero problems handling the crew. She's already offered to show Gamora the ropes, and by some miracle, she had won Gamora's trust. But it all left a bitter taste in his mouth. There's a dull ache in his chest. Yondu is playing the part of the villain again, or maybe, he never stopped. He's trying to do the right thing, to keep Gamora safe. Was being good supposed to be this hard? Is it supposed to hurt this much?

Yondu stops his train of thought before it can get any further. The last thing he needed was more feelings. He's not drunk enough for this. He sighs again and rubbed his tired eyes. "You're right, I hate this idea."

"I'm always right," Bruhl grumbled.

Kraglin sipped his drink leisurely, "it doesn't matter anyway. She hates you, sir, she would never take the job."

Bruhl shrugged, "not without some… persuasion." That sounded like a challenge. All three of them turned to look at Jazinda.

Gamora and Jazinda are sitting out on the patio. The kid is drawing on the paper placement with colorful stones and swings her feet carelessly. She's still wearing the towel. Jazinda lazily flips through a menu, while reading it aloud. She must be translating it from Sepiidae to Standard for Gamora. Jazinda looks mildly irritated but she doesn't tell the kid to leave. "Bounty hunters are usually the lone wolf type. They don't think they need anybody else, and they don't play well with others." Yondu was thinking out loud.

"Okay, but clearly she likes the squirt. She wants to protect Gamora," Kraglin states the obvious.

"Jazinda said as much earlier," Bruhl replied flatly. "She's arrogant, you could offer her a challenge she cannot refuse."

"That ain't gonna be enough on its own." Yondu shook his head, "We need to convince her that the best way to protect the pup is by working with us."

Kraglin leaned against the bar and tilted his head to the side. "What about a common enemy? You could pit her against the crew, she already believes we're a threat."

"Eh, well," Bruhl makes a face, "if you push her too far in that direction it could end bloody. She's tad trigger happy."

"Nah, that idea ain't half bad," Yondu clapped Kraglin on the shoulder. He's confident that Jazinda won't try anything drastic with Gamora in the crossfire. He slammed the rest of his drink and stood up, a plan half-formed in his mind. This all balances on Yondu being able to lead the conversation in the right direction.

Yondu strolls across the lobby, through the sliding glass doors, and onto the patio. Leeto's pink sky was stained with reds and yellows, in its eternal twilight. The city sparkles beneath the low hanging moon. "Oh no," Gamora slid off her chair and crawled under the table. She was hiding from him.

Yondu rolled his eyes, "Gamora, "

"Gamora isn't here right now. You'll have to come back later." Jazinda intones flatly without looking up from the menu.

Yondu frowned, "I can clearly see her." Gamora was huddled in a ball, with her knees pressed up against her chest. She quickly looks away when Yondu catches her gaze.

Jazinda flipped the page. "Understandably, she doesn't want to talk to you."

"This is fucking stupid," He grumbled bitterly. "Come out from under there!" He considers kicking the table but decided against it. There are hot drinks that could spill, it would make a mess.

Jazinda rolled her eyes, "Don't yell at her. This is why she's afraid of you." Yondu ripped the menu out of her hands and tossed it aside. It sailed over the edge of the patio and into the city streets below. Jazinda was baffled. She looked between Yondu and the menu. "What is wrong with you?! Who's going to clean that up, huh?"

"Why are you still here?"

Jazinda's eyes went wide, she blinked and shook her head. "Some idiot blew up my spaceship."

"No, what are you doing here." Yondu tapped his knuckles on the table, "this is not your problem anymore."

Jazinda crossed one long leg over the other and leaned forward. She lowered her voice, "What makes you think this is your problem at all?"

Yondu pulled a chair over and sat down at the table. "I have a fully functioning ship, "

Jazinda sneered, "fully functioning?"

"I can provide medical care, food, and shelter. What do you have exactly?" Yondu managed to keep his composure. Jazinda clenched her jaw and looked away. "She's safe with us."

"Safe? You think your ship is safe. A group of hypermasculine aggressive men?" Jazinda choked back an ugly laugh. "Never once in history has that gone horribly wrong for a woman."

Yondu narrowed his eyes, "I keep them under control."

"Was your mechanic under control when he was running his mouth?"

He scoffs and retorted, "as if you could do any better."

Jazinda leans back, raising her chin slightly. He's concerned she won't take the bait but then she smirks. "Any idiot could use fear and violence to manipulate others, but a real grifter doesn't have to."

Yondu rolled his eyes, "what does a two-bit bounty hunter know about grifting?"

"I wasn't always a bounty hunter, jackass." Jazinda sighs irritably, "There are two things your men won't stand for; a coward and a pedophile. You make them believe that only someone like that would hurt a child, and they'll police themselves."

"They won't change, they can't," Yondu shakes his head. "Even if they could, it would take years."

"Maybe for you," she retorted.

He stood up and leans across the table. "I know the crew, you can't do it."

Jazinda stood up, "I could do it in six months!"

"Fine! You're on!" He slapped the ravager badge on the table.

"Fine!" She yelled back.

"Ship leaves at the end of the month." He turned to leave but then stopped. He pulls out a room key from his wallet and tossed it onto Gamora's drawing. He tapped on the table to get the kids attention. "I'm leaving your room key here. You can charge meals to the room if you run out of units." A small green hand snakes out from under the table. Gamora fumbles around until she grabbed the key. Without another word, Yondu turned and stalked back inside the lobby. That was easier than he thought it'd be.

Jazinda allows her anger to wash over her like a tidal wave and then she lets it go. She slid down in her seat. Her shoulders slump and she exhales slowly. With a clear mind, her gaze settles on the ravager badge. "What just happened?"

Gamora climbed out from beneath the table. She sat down next to Jazinda and picked up her chalk. "I think you got a job."

She picked up the metal badge, turning it over in her hands. It's warped around the edges and stained with blood. She wonders briefly if Yondu plucked it off the second mates corpse, or what was left of it. Jazinda drops the badge back onto the table. It had been a bad week. She had lost her ship, her home, and now she had signed up to work under that jackass. All of this to protect a girl and Jazinda didn't even like kids. Doing the right thing sucked. "Gamora, why didn't you stay with the Riders?"

Gamora's expression softened ever so slightly. She looks up from her coloring. "Yondu said there are bad guys after me. I'd be really sad if they… if they killed Richie or Cammi because of me."

Jazinda chuckled, "but you don't care if we die?"

Gamora blinked in surprise and then shrugged, "well,"

"Great, thanks kid," Jazinda deadpans.

"You're welcome, " she replied earnestly.

Jazinda doesn't notice when the server walks over to their table. "Do you know what you want to order?" They signal in a creole language developed by shapeshifters. Jazinda translated for Gamora.

"I want fried lepido and arachnid legs and uh, the eephy berry dessert thing?" Gamora counts items off on her fingers.

Jazinda leaned over to Gamora, "you charging this all to your room?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Well if that jackass is paying for this, " Jazinda switched back to signaling in the shapeshifter language. She translated Gamora's order and then added, "Another order of arachnid legs, the roasted spiced koleop, and fresh water." The server scribbled the order down on their tablet and vanished back into the hotel. They returned a while later with a mountain of food.

"Woah!" Gamora squealed in delight and clapped her hands together. "It smells so good!" Jazinda cut Gamora's food into smaller bite-sized pieces. The kid held up her transmitter, "smile!"

"Wah-hey!" Jazinda protested as Gamora took a picture. The flash blinded her, "What are you doing?"

"I'm letting Richie know I made it to Leeto safely, he was worried about me," Gamora says and taps away at her transmitter.

"Oh, did you let your mother know too?" Jazinda asked curiously.

"No, not yet, " Gamora slumped in her seat, hiding behind her transmitter. Jazinda gives her a patronizing look. "I don't know what to tell her. I don't want to burden her anymore." Jazinda flicked Gamora's forehead. "Hey!"

"You're not a burden." Jazinda stares into her drink, "tell your mother you got a job, that your safe and taken care of."

Gamora frowned and asked cautiously, "am I safe?"

Jazinda felt rage boil within her. She snapped one of the arachnid legs in half, cracking its glossy exoskeleton. "Everything is gonna be alright, I promise, " And she meant it.

Gamora looks up at her with soft hopeful eyes, "thanks, Jazinda." There was no going back now, there never was. We can only go forward.


End file.
